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No Ordinary Love (with no ordinary images)

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:59:58 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: I had never seen this before, and the photographer had no background information. So after reading through the comments on Flickr, someone who lived in the area was able to provide a few more details. And another user found the link to the artist's website.

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

this is in the cemetery at mount macedon, victoria

it is about 80km west of melbourne or something like that

it is the grave of a guy, and his wife commissioned this sculpture for it as an expression of her love for him

Clip Source: docs.google.com

Clip Source: www.users.bigpond.com

Artist: Peter Schipperheyn, born Melbourne Australia 1955- Title: "Asleep" carved 1987 Dimensions: 460 mm in height by 2020 mm in length by 800 mm in depth [life-size figure]. Medium: Carrara Statuario Marble . Present location: Mt Macedon Cemetery, Mt Macedon. Victoria.

Clip Source: docs.google.com

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

the gravestone IS amazing...the detail and the pose are both provocative and disturbing at the same time. The way her hair is spread out and her right hand gripping the edge is so incredibly realistic! What a wonderful piece of work.

Clip Source: docs.google.com

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

the gravestone by itself. the perspective of this, along with all the other ordinary gravestones is just amazing. the contrast between the feminine curves and the rectangular edges is so stark and stunning

Clip Source: www.users.bigpond.com

Clip Source: www.flickr.com

Sad, yet amazingly beautiful. I've never seen anything like this before

Tags: sculpture, gravestone, peter schipperheyn, cemetery, mt macedon

Welcome To Canada

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:30:30 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad
clipper's remarks: I've never been more ashamed of my country than I am at this moment

Clip Source: www.theglobeandmail.com

Tasered man's last moments

Globe and Mail Update

IAN BAILEY

November 14, 2007 at 10:18 PM EST

VANCOUVER — Astonishing video footage released yesterday shows Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski did not resist police or confront them before officers zapped him with a taser, setting off a struggle that ended in his death in the international arrivals area of Vancouver's International Airport.

The footage, shot by Victoria resident Paul Pritchard, was released to the news media yesterday and widely broadcast, providing a raw look at events that have prompted a furious debate in B.C. about the police use of tasers.

He appears to turn and move away from officers, putting up his hands in frustration. He appears to pick up a stapler on a counter. He is then tasered with a 50,000-volt shock, and jittering he drops, screaming in pain.

Tags: police brutality

Evalution of Maps..evolved nicely! pics

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 12:32:31 GMT

clipped by: mugofcoffee
clipper's remarks: very interesting and highly informative...

Clip Source: m3.youneed2see.com

Tags: maps, pictures, photos, interesting, history, evolution.

Cry Me A River

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:40:09 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Dowd, 46, is one of the nation's leading political strategists, a onetime Democrat who switched sides to help put Bush in the White House, then win a second term. He spent years shaping and promoting Bush's policies -- policies that Dowd now views with a mixture of anguish and contempt.

He began expressing his disillusionment, tentatively at first, at a UC Berkeley conference in January. Since then, he has grown more forceful.

On the White House stand against same-sex marriage: "Why are we having the federal government get involved? . . . Does a thing limiting someone's rights and aimed at a particular constituency belong in the U.S. Constitution?"

On the war in Iraq: "I guess somebody would make the argument, well, the Iraq war was about defending ourselves. But it seems an awfully huge stretch these days to say that."

Tags: now, he, has, a, soul

Zimbabwe, fuel for sex

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 00:41:21 GMT

clipped by: syncopath

Clip Source: www.benettontalk.com

Zimbabwe: unemployment rates are at 70%; inflation reached 2000%. What used to be the granary of Africa now depends by one third from food aid coming from abroad, due both to a long period of drought and to an ineffective agrarian reform. President Robert Mugabe talks about international conspiracies against his country.

One third of the population went abroad looking for a better life. The others survive thanks to black marketeering and protest burning notes in the squares.

In this frightful sketch, Libya and Kuwait, who used to provide gasoline to Zimbabwe, stopped to do it as they realized they wouldn’t be longer paid for it. Now, on the highway between Harare and Beitbridge, towards the South African border, the main attraction are the so-called highway girls, who sell their bodies for gasoline.

Tags: zimbabwe, africa

Giagantic Canibalistic Mongolian Trout!

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 15:45:28 GMT

clipped by: ouyangwulong
clipper's remarks: The best news is that conservation efforts now center on catch-and-release fly fishing!

The Chinese utter lack of comprehension when it comes to conservation means I still haven't been able to find any good fishing around Beijing, but Mongolia, that ain't so far away!

So that settles it, I'm headed to Mongolia! But first I have to learn to tie a fly that looks like a dead marmot...

(Any tips?)

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

World's Largest Trout Thrives in Mongolia -- For Now

Hucho taimen may be known to the Chinese as "the river god's daughter," but in this remote corner of northern Mongolia, the world's largest trout has long been king (photo gallery).

A ferocious and even cannibalistic predator (cannibalism photo), taimen can grow more than six feet (up to two meters) in length and can weigh up to 200 pounds (91 kilograms).

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

The healthiest populations of taimen are found in the Uur River, above, and the Eg River in northern Mongolia's Zerleg, or "Wild," district.

Clip Source: news.nationalgeographic.com

He had reached the banks of the Eg River, amid the vast steppe of northern Mongolia, to check out travelers' tales of an enormous freshwater salmon. To his surprise, his Mongolian guide produced a freshly shot prairie dog, which he attached to a fishing line and threw in the river.

Moments later the water erupted to a massive strike mid-current. The fish got away—with a big chunk of prairie dog—but Vermillion was hooked for good.

Tags: giant, canibalistic, mongolian, trout, fishing, nature, national geographic

Oddly, Hypocrisy Rooted in High Morals

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:55:42 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: "The principle we uncovered is that when faced with a moral decision, those with a strong moral identity choose their fate (for good or for bad) and then the moral identity drives them to pursue that fate to the extreme,"

Clip Source: www.livescience.com

Morally upstanding people are the do-gooders of society, right? Actually, a new study finds that a sense of moral superiority can lead to unethical acts, such as cheating. In fact, some of the best do-gooders can become the worst cheats.

Stop us if this sounds familiar.

When asked to describe themselves, most people typically will rattle off a list of physical features and activities (for example, "I do yoga" or "I'm a paralegal"). But some people have what scientists call a moral identity, in which the answer to the question would include phrases like "I am honest" and "I am a caring person."

Past research has suggested that people who describe themselves with words such as honest and generous are also more likely to engage in volunteer work and other socially responsible acts.

the line between right and wrong becomes blurry, particularly when it comes to cheating on a test or in the workplace

the do-gooders can become the worst of cheaters.

Tags: psychology, morality, hypocrisy, identity

Search for the Intergalactic Origins of Life

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:06:24 GMT

clipped by: invictus

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Recent discoveries using The Paranal Observatory located in the Atacama Desert in the northern part of Chile have led astrophysicists believe that carbon-based molecules that once floated in interstellar space were present in the cloud of dust and gas from which our solar system formed, providing the raw materials for life on Earth. These molecules have been observed throughout our galaxy, which is one reason why many believe conditions may also be ripe for life in other parts of the Milky Way, and in billions of galaxies beyond.

By seeking out dusty galaxies – where organic molecules may form in greater abundance – galaxies similar to our own, but at an earlier stage of their evolution, astronomers hope to work out how long these molecules have been abundant in the universe, and therefore how long the conditions suitable for life as we know it have prevailed.

New evidence appears to support the theory that organic molecules are common elsewhere in the universe.

Tags: space, life, carbon, stellar dust, cosmology, universe, science

Recycle Your Old Sneakers

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 09:32:19 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken

Clip Source: www.care2.com

Sneakers

Recycle: There are a number of charities that send your used sneakers to impoverished places with little access to athletic shoes. Shoe4Africa collects running shoes, cleans them up and ships them to East Africa to encourage sport. The first pair of Shoe4Africa shoes to be donated back in 1995 went to Mark Wendot Yatich, then an unknown runner—he went on to win the Los Angeles Marathon. Another runner to get shoes that year was Japheth Kimutai, who three years later won the Commonwealth Games 800m gold medal.

Nike has a fantastic recycling program called Reuse-A-Shoe , which is working to close the loop on the life cycle of literally millions of pairs of old, worn-out, or otherwise unusable athletic shoe material. Nike collects worn-out athletic shoes of any brand, not just Nike, and recycles them into a material that is used to make new soccer and football fields, tennis and basketball courts, running tracks and playground surfaces around the world.

Tags: recycling, sustainability, charity, aid, sport, africa

South Africa legalized gay unions

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:27:27 GMT

clipped by: syncopath
clipper's remarks: 1/2 a year ago, yet still news ....

Clip Source: www.benettontalk.com

The world map of existent laws about homosexuality sketches a situation that is not encouraging at all. In many countries homosexuality is still forbidden and punished, with penalties sometimes harsher than for those who rape or murder; in some instances even with death penalty like in the Saudi Arabia or in the Chechen Republic. In such a situation, it’s a pleasure to report that yesterday the South African Parliament overwhelmingly approved (230 votes against 41) the legalization of same-sex marriages.

Continue reading "South Africa legalizes gay unions" »

Tags: gay, community, south africa

Simple reason helps males evolve more quickly

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 09:10:55 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: “There’s a health aspect in figuring out differences in gene expression between the sexes,” said Wayne. “To make a male or a female, even in a fly, it’s all about turning things on -- either in different places or different amounts or at different times -- because we all basically have the same starting set of genes.”

Clip Source: physorg.com

The observation that males evolve more quickly than females has been around since 19th century biologist Charles Darwin noted the majesty of a peacock’s tail feather in comparison with the plainness of the peahen’s.

No matter the species, males apparently ramp up flashier features and more melodious warbles in an eternal competition to win the best mates, a concept known as sexual selection.

Why males are in evolutionary overdrive even though they have essentially the same genes as females has been a mystery, but an explanation by University of Florida Genetics Institute researchers to appear online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week may shed light on the subject.

It’s because males are simpler,”

The mode of inheritance in males involves simpler genetic architecture that does not include as many interactions between genes as could be involved in female inheritance.”

Tags: evolution, genetics, male, female, sexual selection, health

Life is a Sexually Transmitted Disease

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 21:05:32 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.brainyquote.com

Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent.

Insanity - a perfectly rational adjustment to an insane world

Creative people who can't help but explore other mental territories are at greater risk, just as someone who climbs a mountain is more at risk than someone who just walks along a village lane

Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through.

The range of what we think and do is limited by what we fail to notice. And because we fail to notice that we fail to notice, there is little we can do to change; until we notice how failing to notice shapes our thoughts and deeds.

There is a great deal of pain in life and perhaps the only pain that can be avoided is the pain that comes from trying to avoid pain.

True guilt is guilt at the obligation one owes to oneself to be oneself. False guilt is guilt felt at not being what other people feel one ought to be or assume that one is.

R. D. Laing

Tags: r.d. laing

World Press Photos 2006 - pics

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:32:43 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.widelec.org

2007

World Press Photos 2006

Tags: photos

Over 35.5 million in US found hungry in 2006

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:05:43 GMT

clipped by: pokkets
clipper's remarks: 12% Have gone hungry over the past year. The Undersecretary for the Department of Agriculture's Kate Houston said "This is encouraging" I have no idea why she is encouraged. Maybe that she isn't one of them? Perhaps she expected more.
Also "No-one in America should go hungry"
Of course prisoners get three meals a day.
'

Clip Source: www.mail.com

More than 35.5 million people in this country went hungry in 2006 as they struggled to find jobs that can support them, a figure that was virtually unchanged from the previous year, the Agriculture Department said Wednesday.

Single mothers and their children were among the most likely to suffer, according to the study.

The 35.5 million people represented more than 1 in 10, or 12.1 percent, who said they did not have enough money or resources to get food for at least some period during the year, according to the department's annual hunger survey. That is compared with 35.1 million people who made similar claims in 2005.

"This

is encouraging, but we know we have more work to do," said Kate Houston, USDA's deputy undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services

Of the 35.5 million people, 11.1 million reported they had "very low food security," meaning they had a substantial disruption in the amount of food they typically eat.

"No one in America should go hungry," Houston said.

Tags: food, hunger, starvation, health

Woman Fined for Biting Penis

Thu, 15 Nov 2007 08:19:13 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: www.thelocal.se

A 22-year-old woman has been found guilty of biting a man's penis at a fast-food outlet in Skövde in March.

The incident occurred after the woman approached the man and asked him several times if he would like her to perform oral sex on him. The pair were not acquainted and the man declined the offer. He then kept trying to reason with her as he turned his body away from her advances.

But the woman would not take no for an answer. Catching the man off guard, she pulled his trousers down and sank her teeth into one side of his penis. She then scratched him in the face.

Tags: female hunger