Clipmarks | taksmaster's clips

Adopt a Clitoris

Wed, 23 May 2007 13:05:14 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

The goal of Clitoraid’s “Adopt a Clitoris” program is to create real, long lasting changes for women who have been forced to experience clitoral excision or genital mutilation against their will. To rebuild the female clitoris, a local anesthetic is applied so no pain is experienced when the surgeon uncovers the root of the original clitoris left after the excision. This root and tissues will become the new clitoris. The procedure takes 6 weeks for a woman to completely heal, with sexual pleasure and genetic normality being the end result.

Clip Source: www.clitoraid.org.

It is a crime against humanity that today, in this so called enlightened 21st century, women in under-developed countries are subjected by force to participate in the sex trades, are denied common freedoms as we know and enjoy in the west, and in certain cultures, are slaves to barbaric practices such as clitoral mutilation in the name of religion and, moreover, male dominance. We can all help.

Tags: africa, women, sex, clitoris, clitoraid, feminism

Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116

Fri, 11 May 2007 18:30:29 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 (pronounced /ˈalˌbin/) was a name intended for a Swedish child who was born in 1991.

Because the parents (Elizabeth Hallin and an unidentified father) failed to register a name by the boy's fifth birthday, a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden, fined the parents 5,000 kronor (US$682 at the time). Responding to the fine, the parents submitted the 43-character name in May 1996, claiming that it was "a pregnant, expressionistic development that we see as an artistic creation." The parents suggested the name be understood in the spirit of 'pataphysics. The court rejected the name and upheld the fine.

The parents then tried to change the spelling of the name to A (also pronounced /ˈalˌbin/) instead. Once again, the court did not approve of the parents' ideas for naming because of a prohibition on one-letter naming.

Tags: wtf, weird, strange, odd, bizarre

The Beauty Math: Average Is Attractive

Sun, 18 Feb 2007 03:20:26 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.bu.edu

Prototypical faces, such as these composites, elicit higher ratings of attractiveness because they are easier for the brain to process, researchers say. (Photos courtesy of Mike Mike)

Beauty may not actually be in the eye of the beholder. While long considered a slave to cultural whims, beauty may be less arbitrary than people thought. Assessments of facial attractiveness do not vary significantly across cultures, and even adults and infants find the same faces attractive. Clearly something beyond just culture is driving our perceptions of beauty.

Winkielman and Halberstadt believe that prototypes are rated more attractive because they are easier for the brain to process. When we are exposed to a new face, for example, our brain takes notice and stores the face away for later use. As we encounter more faces, the brain creates a "face" category and tries to find commonalities or similar patterns between the faces in the category. These patterns become the basis of the face prototype.

Tags: science, psychology, beauty

Elderly woman shoots police, killed

Wed, 22 Nov 2006 07:36:16 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster
clipper's remarks: Beware of elderly people with firearms.

Clip Source: www.wsbtv.com

Related To Story

Images: Three Officers Shot

Elderly Woman Killed; 3 APD Officers Wounded

POSTED: 7:41 pm EST November 21, 2006

UPDATED: 10:41 pm EST November 21, 2006

ATLANTA -- Three Atlanta police officers were shot and wounded and an elderly woman killed at a house in northwest Atlanta Tuesday night.

The woman, who relatives say was 92-years-old, opened fire on the officers from the narcotics division at a house at 933 Neal Street, according to officials. Authorities say they received a tip of drug activity taking place at the home and officers were headed to the house with a search warrant.

Relatives identified the elderly woman as Katherine Johnston.

The woman's niece, Sarah Dozier, says that she bought her aunt a gun to protect herself and that her aunt had a permit for the gun. Relatives believe Johnston was frightened by the officers and opened fire.

"They kicked her door down talking about drugs, there's no drugs in that house. And they realize now, they've got the wrong house," Dozier said. "I'm mad as hell." Officials say they had the correct house and that the warrant they had was legal.

All three of the officers were taken to Grady Memorial Hospital. Officials there say the officers are alive, alert and talking. One officer was struck in the arm, one officer was struck in the shoulder and one officer was struck in the thigh. All of the officers are expected to be okay.

WSB-TV Channel 2 has reporters at the hospital and at the scene of the shooting; they will have live updates on Channel 2 Action News @ 11.

Tags: police, law, news, violence

Politician trying to censor church sex abuse documentary

Wed, 23 May 2007 11:44:04 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster
clipper's remarks: Sex Crimes and the Vatican: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6608692729494570044

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

An Italian politician has sparked a furore by urging state broadcaster Rai to block the transmission of a controversial BBC documentary.

The programme, aired in the UK in October, investigates the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church.

The Panorama programme, Sex Crimes and the Vatican, has been Google Italia's most popular online video choice since a version with translated subtitles was put online.

The investigation examines a secret document which sets out a procedure for dealing with child sex abuse scandals within the Catholic Church.

Tags: catholic, church, abuse, children, censorship

KFC targets extraterrestrials with huge logo

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 01:52:47 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: today.reuters.co.uk

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - From space, extraterrestrials and astronauts can look back to earth and see The Great Wall of China -- and KFC's Colonel Sanders.

The KFC Corp. on Tuesday launched a rebranding campaign with an 87,500 square-foot image of Colonel Sanders in the Nevada desert which the company says makes Kentucky Fried Chicken the world's first brand visible from space.

"If there are extraterrestrials in outer space, KFC wants to become their restaurant of choice," KFC President Gregg Dedrick said in a statement.

The logo consists of 65,000 one-foot by one-foot painted tile pieces that were assembled like a giant jigsaw puzzle.

"If we hear back from a life form in space today - whether NASA astronauts or a signal from some life form on Mars - we'll send up some Original Recipe Chicken," said Dedrick.

The logo also depicts an updated version of KFC icon Colonel Sanders who wears his signature string tie but with a red apron instead of his classic white double-breasted suit.

The logo was built at the remote Area 51 desert near Rachel, Nevada, which KFC said was known as the UFO capital of the world and famous for its association with UFO conspiracy theories.

Next Article: Iraq govt orders arrest of top Sunni cleric

Tags: funny, humor, aliens, marketing, advertising, chicken

The Boy With The Incredible Brain

Sat, 03 Mar 2007 03:54:40 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: video.google.com

[Video]

This is the breathtaking story of Daniel Tammet. A twenty-something with extraordinary mental abilities, Daniel is one of the world’s few ... all » savants. He can do calculations to 100 decimal places in his head, and learn a language in a week. This documentary follows Daniel as he travels to America to meet the scientists who are convinced he may hold the key to unlocking similar abilities in everyone. He also meets the world’s most famous savant, the man who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in the Oscar winning film ‘Rain Man’. (2005) «

Tags: pi, savant, autism, neuroscience

Solar Activity 1996-2005

Thu, 31 May 2007 22:08:51 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

[Video]

NASA - SOHO Telescope video showing the Sun's activity in periods from 1996 thru 2005. The Sun, in 1996 seems to be sleeping compared to 2005. Scientists suggest that due to increased solar activity our planet is warming and has little or nothing to do with any increase in CO2, but is a natural phenomenon.

Tags: sun, solar system, global warming, climate change, nasa

Brain Improvement to Spark Fitness Boom

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:24:15 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.neurosciencemarketing.com

Marketers, start your engines… a new fitness boom is about to begin.

The article reports on work being done at the University of Illinois, UCLA, Columbia University, and other locations to establish the relationship between physical exercise and improved brain fitness.

Last week, in a landmark paper, researchers announced that they had coaxed the human brain into growing new nerve cells, a process that for decades had been thought impossible, simply by putting subjects on a three-month aerobic-workout regimen. Other scientists have found that vigorous exercise can cause older nerve cells to form dense, interconnected webs that make the brain run faster and more efficiently.

Every time a bicep or quad contracts and releases, it sends out chemicals, including a protein called IGF-1 that travels through the bloodstream, across the blood-brain barrier and into the brain itself. There, IGF-1 takes on the role of foreman in the body’s neurotransmitter factory.

Tags: science, neuroscience, health, exercise, fitness

Human 2.0 - Creating Gods

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 17:12:29 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster
clipper's remarks: Documentary about the upcoming technological singularity.

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

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Tags: science, technology, future, neuroscience, transhumanism, artificial intelligence, singularity, quantum mechanics

Searching for 'our alien origins'

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 12:29:28 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

In July 2001, a mysterious red rain started falling over a large area of southern India.

Locals believed that it foretold the end of the world, though the official explanation was that it was desert dust that had blown over from Arabia.

But one scientist in the area, Dr Godfrey Louis, was convinced there was something much more unusual going on.

Not only did Dr Louis discover that there were tiny biological cells present, but because they did not appear to contain DNA, the essential component of all life on Earth, he reasoned they must be alien lifeforms.

"This staggering claim is that this is possibly extraterrestrial. That is a big claim I know, but all the experiments are supporting this claim," said Dr Louis.

His remarkable work has set in motion a chain of events with scientists around the world debating the origin of these mysterious cells.

The main reason why Dr Louis's ideas have not been immediately laughed out of court is because they tie in with a theory promoted by two UK scientists ever since the 1960s.

Space qualified

The late Sir Fred Hoyle and Professor Chandra Wickramasinghe have been the champions of "Panspermia", the idea that life on Earth originated on another planet.

They speculate that life was first brought here on the back of a comet. Over the last decade, Panspermia is being taken ever more seriously.

"That sounds like a tall order but bacteria do that. From what we know survival out in space is more or less ensured. Bacteria seem to me to be born space travellers."

Last summer, Horizon had exclusive access to a trip taken by Professor Wickramasinghe to India to investigate at first hand the red rain phenomenon.

He met Dr Louis and together they visited the people who had witnessed the red rain.

Finding life elsewhere in the Solar System would be a vital bolster to the Panspermia theory.

The US space agency (Nasa) is now increasingly interested in searching for extra-terrestrial life.

Tags: science, ufo, aliens, space, strange

"Muslims need more sex"

Thu, 26 Apr 2007 11:22:27 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: edition.cnn.com

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) -- Dr. Heba Kotb is tackling a taboo in the Arab world unlike anyone else: She's talking about sex openly on a show broadcast all over the Middle East.

"We talk about masturbation ... sex over the Internet. We talk about sex and Ramadan. We talk about the wedding night," said Kotb. Entitled "The Big Talk," the show is broadcast once a week over a satellite channel from Cairo, Egypt.

It took the 39-year-old mother three years of negotiations to get her show on the air. And a main reason she succeeded is that she talks only about sex allowed in the Quran -- sex between husband and wife.

And for the men she has some blunt advice: "You have to have foreplay with your wife and you have to have sex with her frequently, not just when you want to."

she started researching while wondering why her part of the world was so averse to talking about sex. It was something Kotb wanted to change and she found a way in the Quran: a passage that discusses sex between husband and wife.

Tags: islam, muslims, sex, health

US, ISRAEL OPERATE IN IRAN

Mon, 27 Nov 2006 00:48:21 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster
clipper's remarks: The United States is training a new breed of terrorist.

Clip Source: www.americanfreepress.net

Behind the increasingly shrill rhetoric and saber rattling over Iran’s nuclear ambitions America and Israel are engaged in a secret war against Iran that has echoes of the years when the CIA supported the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union.

This time, the United States and Israel are running covert operations with the help of Kurdish militias and rebel Iranian fighters. For some observers, training and arming Islamic fighters smacks of the days of Soviet rule in Afghanistan.

Now the U.S. military, with Israeli commandos lending a hand, is arming and secretly training a different breed of mujahideen, or Islamic fighters—Kurdish militias with links to ethnic Kurdish communities in Iran and Syria, and fighters from the Iranian Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK), which has bases in southern Iraq and has provided the United States with information about the Iranian military and Iran’s nuclear sites.

But, since the fall of Saddam the Kurds have become disillusioned with the country’s slide into chaos and have hinted that they would be happy to see Iraq divided into three parts. In that event, they would establish an autonomous region called Kurdistan and the rich northern oil fields of Kirkuk would ensure their prosperity for decades to come.

In April 2006, Iran said it shot down a U.S. surveillance drone flying over the country. Israel has been running its own black operations with the help of Kurds it has trained. The Kurds reportedly have strong ties to Israel because it supports the creation of an independent Kurdistan. From an Israeli perspective, such an entity would provide Israel with an ally in a region in which it is totally isolated and would keep Iraq destabilized.

Tags: israel, united states, iraq, iran, war on terror, news, politics, terrorism, al qaeda

Deliver us from evil [video has been deleted by Google]

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 06:31:34 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: video.google.com

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This documentary is the story of Father Oliver O'Grady (the most notorious pedophile in the history of the modern Catholic Church)and millions of pedophile priests.

Tags: catholic, church, crime, religion, christianity, children, child, abuse

The Robot that Tortures People

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 00:41:55 GMT

clipped by: taksmaster

Clip Source: www.youtube.com

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Tags: robot, robots, humor, humour, funny, satire, bush, cheney, torture