Clipmarks | mona's clips

'pregnant man' has healthy baby girl

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:33:30 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: follow-up on a previous story.

US 'pregnant man' has baby girl

Thomas Beatie, 34, is legally male but kept his female reproductive organs after having breast surgery to remove glands and flatten his chest.

Mr Beatie, who sports a wispy beard, made headlines around the world when he revealed in April that he was pregnant.

"I opted not to do anything with my reproductive organs because I wanted to have a child one day," he said.

Mr Beatie grew up in Hawaii as Tracy Lagondin and was a Girl Scout, model and finalist in a teenage beauty pageant.

He has been married for five years to wife Nancy.

"This baby is totally healthy. This is what I consider a normal pregnancy."

Fishing for a whaling compromise??

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 10:29:25 GMT

clipped by: mona

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Whaling body agrees path to peace

The International Whaling Commission (IWC) adopted a reform path aimed at finding compromise between pro- and anti-hunting countries.

Governments will try to agree a package of measures by next year's IWC meeting.

Some conservation groups approve of the endeavour because they believe it could lead to a reduction in the total number of whales killed each year, and greater regulation of hunting.

"We wish to see the end of special permit (scientific) whaling," said New Zealand's conservation minister Steve Chadwick.

Just about the only note of discord so far in this usually fractious meeting has come over subsistence hunting in Greenland.

The Arctic state has asked to add humpback whales to its annual hunt, which already includes minkes, fins and bowheads.

Some, notably the UK, were ferociously opposed to the humpback quota.

EU agreed to oppose the quotas. Danish delegates walked out in protest; and without EU backing, the application is almost certain to fail.

giraffe kick sparks breakout

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:09:20 GMT

clipped by: mona

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Police suspect giraffe in circus breakout

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Fifteen camels, two zebras and several llamas and pot-bellied pigs escaped from a circus visiting Amsterdam early Monday, police said.

"We suspect that a giraffe kicked open a pen," Dutch police said in a statement, adding that the animals did not get far before they were rounded up and returned to the circus.

you have more than reached your destination

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:24:45 GMT

clipped by: mona

Clip Source: www.news.com.au

'Sleeping' pilots fly right past destination

AN Air India flight headed for Mumbai overshot its destination and was halfway to Goa before its dozing pilots were woken out of a deep slumber by air traffic control, a report said.

The plane flew to Mumbai on autopilot, but when air traffic there tried to help the aircraft land, the plane ignored their instructions and carried on at full speed towards Goa.

"It was only after the aircraft reached Mumbai airspace that air traffic control realised it was not responding to any instructions and was carrying on its own course,'' the source said.

"The aircraft should have begun its descent about 100 miles (160km) from Mumbai, but here it was still at cruising altitude. We checked for hijack.''

Finally air traffic control buzzed the cockpit and woke up the pilots, who turned the plane around, the report said.

TLD regulations relaxed

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:17:23 GMT

clipped by: mona

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Internet overhaul wins approval

A complete overhaul of the way in which people navigate the internet has been given the go-ahead in Paris.

The net's regulator, Icann, voted unanimously to relax the strict rules on so-called "top-level" domain names, such as .com or .uk.

The decision means that companies could turn brands into web addresses, while individuals could use their names.

A second proposal, to introduce domain names written in Asian, Arabic or other scripts, was also approved.

Costly business

"The major issue with the potentially large number of new TLDs is going to be for brand owners who will want to protect their trademarks," said Mr Eggensperger.

Icann has said that it was "aware of all of the concerns" and that it had "considered them very carefully".

The process of introducing the new system will start in 2009.

Tags: internet, tld, domains, .com

anaesthetics as pain boosters?

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:14:01 GMT

clipped by: mona

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Anaesthetics 'could worsen pain'

Some general anaesthetics could actually worsen the pain following surgery, say scientists.

So-called "noxious" anaesthesia drugs - used commonly worldwide - stimulate nerves to cause irritation long after the operation is over.

The drugs act on the same receptors on nerve cells which are activated by contact with other irritants, such as garlic, mustard or chilli.

RotSchwarzGold - Germany's Flag Reinvented

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:30:09 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: In a news story on Saturday reporting on the upcoming semifinal match between Turkey and Germany, the German ARD (Channel 1) news used a wrong image of the German flag, swapping the colours red and black.
Apparently the mistake occurred because the editor was distracted by watching the football while creating the background image.

My take on it:
(a) unlikely story
(b) far from offensive, I find it amusing
(c) good thing it wasn't any other flag that the Germans misrepresented - that could've had some more crucial repercussions.

Clip Source: www.taz.de

ARD erfindet Deutschlandfahne neu

Warum nicht mal Abwechslung? Die "Tagesthemen" haben bei einer Anmoderation eine falsche Deutschlandfahne gezeigt. Begründung: Der Chef vom Dienst war wegen eines EM-Tors abgelenkt.

Die ARD-"Tagesthemen" haben zu einem Bericht über die Fußball-Europameisterschaft eine falsche Deutschlandfahne gezeigt. In der Sendung am Samstagabend war für fast 30 Sekunden statt der Farbreihenfolge "Schwarz-Rot-Gold" eine Illustration mit den Farben "Rot-Schwarz-Gold" zu sehen.

Clip Source: de.wikipedia.org

Clip Source: www.taz.de

Die falsche Flagge war zu sehen, während "Tagesthemen"-Moderator Tom Buhrow einen Bericht über das anstehende Deutschland-Türkei-Spiel ankündigte.

Tags: german, flag, ard

projecting lamps

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:18:53 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: could be fun.

Clip Source: en.designheure.com

Tags: light, lamp, design, home

Extreme Music: Top 15 Free Music Websites That You Will Want to Visit

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:21:27 GMT

clipped by: Silkweaver
clipper's remarks: It need no words, just explore and listen

Clip Source: www.musicouch.com

Music is a powerful creation. By its very design, it invokes a storm of stirred emotions, moving seas of unbridled passion within the core of our very soul.

Connecting to the world on a global scale.
Seeking the journey into the mysterious unexplored.
Unearthing a trove of treasures that are unlike anything known before.

The Sixtyone

Spinjay

Songza

Grooveshark

It Breaks

MP3 4U

New Grounds

Ruckus

Musicovery

Live Music Archive

My Bloop

Deezer

Tagoo

Jamwave

Last.FM

Tags: music, web

No One Receiving?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 10:16:29 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: This photo comes with a beautiful(ly dark) poem...go to source to read. Just realised that I can no longer clip text freely. Are we back to clipping full paragraphs only? Or is my computer/browser playing up?

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

No One Receiving?

Tags: emptiness

Pluto gets new class

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:30:10 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks:

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

'Non-planet' Pluto gets new class

"Plutoid" is the word of the moment for astronomers.

It is nearly two years since the International Astronomical Union (IAU) stripped Pluto of its former status as a "proper" planet.

Now an IAU committee, meeting in Oslo, has suggested that small, nearly spherical objects orbiting beyond Neptune should carry the "plutoid" tag.

Alan Stern, a former Nasa space sciences chief and principal investigator on a mission to Pluto, was scathing in his condemnation of the IAU.

"It's just some people in a smoke-filled room who dreamed it up," he told the Associated Press. "Plutoids or haemorrhoids, whatever they call it. This is irrelevant."

divorced at age 10

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 22:19:36 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: I'm at a loss for words.

Clip Source: www.smh.com.au

THE little girl was waist-high, so small that the lawyers, clerks and judges hurrying through the courthouse almost missed her.

As the crowds cleared, a judge asked her what she was doing sitting alone on a bench.

"I came to get a divorce," said 10-year-old Nujood Ali.

Her poor parents had married her to a man three times her age, who had beaten her and had forced her to have sex, she said.

As a wedding gift, she received three new dresses and a $20 wedding ring.

During a visit to her parents, she wept, saying that her husband was doing unmentionable things to her. Her father said there was nothing he could do.

sensible units

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:25:51 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: fun little online toy

Clip Source: www.sensibleunits.com

Convert boring units to real objects as you type!

164 centimetres

is equal to:

Reload

1.1 standard railway gauges.
14 CDs side by side.
1.2 Alaskan moose antler spans.
32 AA batteries end to end.

Tags: fun, converter, convert

Word wars - susbsidiarity

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:21:47 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: Having studied politics at University, I practically grew up with the concept of subsidiarity. It strikes me as absurd that this should be deemed a nonexistent word and one that should be abolished at that. If anything, can't it just be created for the sake of argument?

Clip Source: blogs.telegraph.co.uk

The Assembly of European Regions has the world’s dictionaries, especially Microsoft’s UK spellchecker, in its sights. I quote below and the letter, by Klaus Klipp, the AER’s Secretary-General, was not written in green ink.

“We are writing to draw your attention to the word “subsidiarity”, which we regretfully note is not listed in your dictionary.

“The principle of subsidiarity has been a pillar of social, theological and political thought for centuries, and is these days referred to in legal statutes, national constitutions and international treaties. The EU’s proposed Treaty of Lisbon, for example, mentions the word “subsidiarity” no less than 30 times.

“We are therefore puzzled that the word, despite its frequent use in European politics and law in particular, has been excluded from numerous dictionaries in languages across Europe and the world.

George Orwell, in his 1946 essay on Politics and the English Language had it right.

This word should be kept out of the political dictionary.

Tags: english, language, puzzling, dispute

Pilot Whales = cheetahs of the deep

Sat, 24 May 2008 13:00:23 GMT

clipped by: mona
clipper's remarks: too cool! worth reading the full article at the source.

Clip Source: www.whoi.edu

Pilot Whales—the 'Cheetahs of the Deep Sea'

Until now, what happened in the depths where many whales hunt, stayed there.

A new study has revealed that pilot whales are “the cheetahs of the deep sea,” making 15-minute, high-speed, all-or-nothing dives up to 3,280 feet (1,000 meters deep) to chase and catch large squid, before surfacing to catch their breath.

"They make colossal dives and must come back exhausted," said Natacha Aguilar de Soto, the study's lead author. "They have to spend time at the surface catching their breath before undertaking a new sprint to catch prey."

Pilot whales dive down to about 1,640 feet (500 meters) and then level out to select a target—“sort of like acoustic window shopping,

Once they have picked their prey, a chase starts that can take the whales down to around 3,000 feet (1,000 meters) and reach speed of 20 miles per hour (9 meters per second).

Clip Source: tbn0.google.com

Tags: whales