Clipmarks | ofcapri's Comments

five surprising benefits of massage

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:45:04 GMT

clipped by: malaika99
clipper's remarks: Also, if massage reduces cortisol, it could reduce the amount of fat stored around the stomach in times of stress.

Clip Source: www.newsweek.com

We know a massage feels good, but it can have a host of therapeutic advantages, too.

Here are five surprising facts about massage from the research findings at TRI and elsewhere that you can put to use:

You don't have to massage the part of the body that hurts most.

This is because massage creates chemical changes that reduce pain and stress throughout the body.

Massage may boost immunity.

Cortisol, which is produced when you are stressed, kills cells important for immunity

massage reduces your stress levels and hence the cortisol in your body

Massage reduces hypertension

don't worry about whether your therapist is schooled in Shiatsu, Swedish or some other technique. The key is pressure firm enough to make a temporary indentation in the skin.

You can massage yourself.

If you're in danger of developing inflamed nerves in your hands or arms from repetitive movements

try massaging your arms for 15 minutes a day.

Stroke from the wrist to the elbow and back down on both sides of the forehand.

Tags: health, massage, alternative medicine

Pig holds woman hostage

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 21:58:06 GMT

clipped by: ofcapri
clipper's remarks: Be careful when you help a pig!

Clip Source: www.cbs47.tv

A pig in Australia turned on a woman and effectively held her hostage - after she tried to help it.

The creature in New South Wales held 63-year-old Caroline Hayes captive, refusing to let her leave the house with its aggressive behavior.

Local animal officials say the animal weighed almost 180 pounds.

Hayes said the pig started head-butting the door looking for food after she and some neighbors had begun feeding it.

She says the pig pushed her door and actually bit a broomstick in half when she tried to use it to poke the pig.

Hayes says she was amazed at the pig's strength.

The pig, who has been named Bruce, has now been caught and was sent to a local piggery where he may even be given stud duties to perform.

Tags: pig

Finding A Personality

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 13:30:03 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: "In the midst of all this — the comebacks, the wisecracks, the flapping mouth — I had a dim idea of what I was doing. I wanted to be someone, a recognizable personality, a full-blooded, memorable human being, and not just a cancer patient. I had already lost the person I used to be, that healthy, energetic 45-year-old woman. I wasn’t capable of losing more.
“A critical illness is like a great permission, an authorization or absolving. It’s all right for a threatened man to be romantic, even crazy, if he feels like it. All your life you think you have to hold back your craziness, but when you’re sick you can let it go in all its garish colors.”

YES!!!!!!!!!

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

They say cancer changes you. They may be right. When I found out I had breast cancer 12 years ago, I became a comedian.

Not the kind anyone paid to see. Just the kind who lurked around hospital corridors and examination rooms offering offbeat opinions, wiseacre remarks, outrageous commentary.

To my oncologist — a short, brisk woman who informed me my tumor had been “fairly aggressive” — I complained about the title of the pamphlet she had given me, “Chemotherapy and You.” I said I’d prefer it if the title were “Chemotherapy and Somebody Else.”

I complained, too, about the little marketing-friendly write-up that listed her family and her hobbies. The family was fine. But hobbies? I didn’t want a doctor who had time for hobbies. I wanted her to spend all her waking hours focusing on curing cancer, particularly the type indicated on my own nasty little pathology report.

Touch My Wand, Baby

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:19:34 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: This one is for Skwirl, and the others who appreciate such... decadent delights.

Clip Source: shostakovich.mirror.waffleimages.com

Morgan Freeman seriously hurt in crash

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:42:36 GMT

clipped by: tidbit2
clipper's remarks: hope he makes it through

Clip Source: www.rte.ie

Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman is in serious condition in hospital after being injured in a road accident.

The 71-year-old was airlifted last night from the accident site in the state of Mississippi, where he has a home, to the Regional Medical Center in Tennessee.

A hospital spokesman said the Memphis-born actor was in serious condition but gave no details of his injuries.

Mississippi police said last night's accident occurred in Tallahatchie County, where Mr Freeman has a home in Charleston.

Local media reported that Mr Freeman's vehicle rolled over several times. TMZ.com, a celebrity website, said an unidentified female was also in the vehicle and her condition was unknown.

Mr Freeman, who has had roles in dozens of films, won a best actor Oscar for 1989's 'Driving Miss Daisy' and appears in a supporting role in the current Batman hit, 'The Dark Knight'.

family forgets four-year-old

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 10:18:47 GMT

clipped by: ofcapri
clipper's remarks: JERUSALEM (AFP) - A four-year-old girl was left behind at Israel's Ben Gurion international airport on Sunday as her mother, father and four siblings rushed to catch a flight to Paris, police said.

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Airport alone -- family forgets four-year-old at Israel airport

JERUSALEM (AFP) - A four-year-old girl was left behind at Israel's Ben Gurion international airport on Sunday as her mother, father and four siblings rushed to catch a flight to Paris, police said.

"I saw a little girl in tears. She was looking for her parents," a policewoman told reporters.

"Luckily she was able to give me her name. I grabbed her and ran to the gates but it was too late," the plane had just taken off, she said.

According to police, the girl's parents only realised she was missing when the pilot of the plane informed them just as the aircraft was taking off.

"It is usual that travellers in a rush forget their luggage but not a child. This never happens," a police official said.

The incident was a stark reminder of the US box office hit "Home Alone" in which a little boy was accidentally left alone as his family rushed to the airport and flew to Paris for a Christmas holiday.

Tags: alone

Iran's stunning wooden village

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:02:56 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: deputy-dog.com

Tags: iran

Wake up, ignorant grown-ups…

Fri, 25 Jul 2008 21:20:57 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.blogwinder.net

[Video]

Tags: environment, children

California becomes first state to ban trans fats

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 04:34:45 GMT

clipped by: arifsali
clipper's remarks: Good move.

Clip Source: www.iht.com

SACRAMENTO: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California signed a bill banning trans fats in restaurant food, making California the first U.S. state to ban the use of the cooking oils linked to artery-clogging cholesterol.

The new law, modeled after a ban implemented in New York City, prohibits the use of partially hydrogenated oils, which contain trans fats, by the state's 87,000 restaurants beginning in 2010 and in all baked goods sold in the state starting in 2011.

Trans fats, found in processed and fried food, candies and cookies, are vegetable oils that are treated with hydrogen to extend the shelf life of products. The oils have been linked to LDL cholesterol that clogs the arteries. New York began a ban on trans fats in all restaurants in December 2006.

"Consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease, and today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.

Tags: health, california

Sex brings Christian closer to God

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 22:51:50 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: communities.canada.com

Professor says the relationship between humans and spirituality is essentially erotic -- some Christians even have peak religious experiences while being sexual

WARNING: The content of this story may be offensive to some readers.

When people feel awkward saying the words, "sexual intercourse," many instead talk about how Jane and John have come "to know" each other (tee hee) "in the biblical sense."

They seem to believe Bible writers were so shy about sexuality they had to employ a euphemism, "to know," because they dare not write "sex" or something more graphic.

But B.C. psychologist Chuck MacKnee, a Christian, believes the Bible writers and translators were using "to know" in a surprisingly intimate way.

They were expressing how men and women through sexuality can deeply connect, truly "know each other," in the most holistic, ecstatic and divine way.

Many people, not only Christians, are afraid of sex, the "amazing, wonderful thing,"

That's why they deny it

Tags: sex, religion

Sunset

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:52:57 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.linkinn.com

Tags: pictures, sun

Four in 10 women sexually assaulted while in military

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 17:58:25 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.cnn.com

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A congresswoman said Thursday that her "jaw dropped" when military doctors told her that four in 10 women at a veterans hospital reported being sexually assaulted while in the military.

A government report indicates that the numbers could be even higher.

Rep. Jane Harman, D-California, spoke before a House panel investigating the way the military handles reports of sexual assault.

She said she recently visited a Veterans Affairs hospital in the Los Angeles area, where women told her horror stories of being raped in the military.

"My jaw dropped when the doctors told me that 41 percent of the female veterans seen there say they were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military," said Harman, who has long sought better protection of women in the military.

"Twenty-nine percent say they were raped during their military service. They spoke of their continued terror, feelings of helplessness and downward spirals many of their lives have taken since.

Tags: military, united states, women, rape

Congress: No airplane cellphone calls

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:05:22 GMT

clipped by: n2sooners
clipper's remarks: Just a few problems. First, just because you turn off your cell phone for calls doesn't mean the camera doesn't still work. Second, if those loud and obnoxious people can't talk on the phone, isn't anyone worried that they will talk to you? Third, what about all the other loud and obnoxious behaviors one encounters on a plane? Will they ban babies next? Fourth, the first paragraph of the story said that cell phones are dangerous on planes, where is the evidence of that? And finally, are they going to extend the ban to those insanely expensive phones you can currently use on planes? Or are only the well to do allowed to be obnoxious on the phone?

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

Members of the House of Representatives, most of whom board airplanes almost every week, traded horror stories Thursday about their worst experiences with annoying fellow passengers who talk loudly on cellphones before takeoff and after landing. One lawmaker said his wife sat next to a woman who loudly discussed her sex life on the phone.

Another House member topped that with the passenger sitting him behind on one flight who got a "dear John" phone call from either his wife or sweetheart just before takeoff.

A third House member raised the specter of national security, saying she had witnessed one man use his cellphone camera to take pictures of sensitive parts of the airplane.

With that, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved by voice vote a bill that would make the current Federal Aviation Administration and Federal Communication Commission ban on cellphone use during flight permanent.

Tags: congress, airplane, cell phone, politics

Steepest Street in the World

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 03:16:35 GMT

clipped by: milmufmas

Clip Source: funtasticus.com

The steepest street in the world is Baldwin Street, located in Dunedin, Southern New Zealand. It starts with a moderate slope but increases rapidly until it reaches a staggering 19 degrees incline! That may not sound like alot, but check out the pics below and you’ll understand how steep this baby actually is. Funny thing is, it is so steep that the surface has to be laid with concrete instead of asphalt otherwise the tar will start flowing down the street on a hot day! Anyone with a death wish can try blading or skateboarding down….

Social Science is not Science

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 21:13:39 GMT

clipped by: willhelm
clipper's remarks: "Their desire to hold on to that illusion causes them to resist many sorts of new information which conflict with their ideas. That is very human, but it ain't science.
Indeed, what goes on in the social sciences would make for a fascinating sociological study."

I have long held the view that social sciences are profound bullhockey, if I may use a technical term.

If you research the foundations of these "disciplines" you will find that they are all based in a materialist foundation and seek to confirm that foundation through the masterful manipulation of descriptive and inferential statistics.

It is time we recognize that sociology and much of the psycho-pop babble we are subjected to is nothing more than materialist propaganda.

Clip Source: maggiesfarm.anotherdotcom.com

Our Editor forwarded me this 1992 paper by Tooby and Cosmides, The Psychological Foundations of Culture, (here in pdf, without the typos), which he found at Overcoming Bias. I wish I had known about this paper years ago.

It's a dense and scholarly critique of what is known as "The Standard Social Sciences Model." The authors argued that this dominant model is obsolete and failing, resulting in a reactionary anti-scientific movement in the social sciences.

I found it particularly interesting that the authors suggest that the clinging to an obsolete model has more to do with emotion than logic - a "fear of falling off the world." Similarly, they indicate that social scientists are emotionally attached to their blank-slate, meliorative views of human nature (there is no "human nature" - environment is everything, and thus people, culture, and society can be perfected - by them, natch).