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Bored?

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 01:35:13 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Don't blame your job, the traffic or your mindless chores. Battling boredom, researchers say, means finding focus, living in the moment and having something to live for

Dissecting Dullness

Most people blame boredom on the circumstances, but psychologists say this emotion is highly subjective and rooted in aspects of consciousness—and that levels of boredom vary among people. Some individuals are less—and others considerably more—likely to be bored than others.

Boredom is not a unified concept but may comprise several varieties, including the transient type that occurs while waiting in line and so-called existential boredom that accompanies a profound dissatisfaction with life.

Boredom is linked to both emotional factors and personality traits. Problems with attention also play a role, and thus techniques that improve a person’s ability to focus may diminish boredom.

Virtually everyone gets bored once in a while

Tags: boredom, emotion, subjective?

It Reminds Me of Rwanda

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:31:50 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

NAIROBI, Kenya — Dozens of people seeking refuge in a church in Kenya were burned to death by a mob on Tuesday in an explosion of ethnic violence that is threatening to engulf this country, which until last week was one of the most stable in Africa.

According to witnesses and Red Cross officials, up to 50 people died inside the church in a small village in western Kenya after a furious crowd doused it with gasoline and set it on fire.

In Nairobi, the capital, tribal militias squared off against each other in several slums, with gunshots ringing out and clouds of black smoke wafting over the shanties. The death toll across the country is steadily rising.

Witnesses indicate that more than 250 people have been killed in the past two days in bloodshed connected to a disputed election Kenya held last week.

As for the people burned alive in the church, Mr. Bujra echoed what many Kenyans were thinking: “It reminds me of Rwanda.”

Tags: please, sweet, jesus, no

The Power Of Love

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 14:03:37 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: One morning, as they marched out to lay railroad ties in the frozen ground miles from the camp, the accompanying guards kept shouting and driving them with the butts of their rifles. Anyone with sore feet supported himself on his neighbour’s arm. The man next to Frankl, hiding his mouth behind his upturned collar, whispered,”If our wives could see us now! I hope they are better off in their camps and don’t know what is happening to us.
Frankl writes,”That brought thoughts of my own wife to mind. And as we stumbled on for miles, slipping on icy spots, supporting each other time and again, dragging one another up and onward, nothing was said, but we both knew: each of us was thinking of his wife. Occasionally I looked at the sky, where the stars were fading and the pink light of the morning was beginning to spread behind a dark bank of clouds. But my mind clung to my wife’s image, imagining it with an uncanny acuteness."

Clip Source: www.peaceinspiration.com

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Victor Frankl, a Viennese Jew, was *interned by the Germans for more than three years. He was moved from one concentration camp to another, even spending several months at Auschwitz. Dr Frankl said that he learned early that one way to survive was to shave every morning, no matter how sick you were, even if you had to use a piece of broken glass as a razor. For every morning, as the prisoners stood for review, the sickly ones who would not be able to work that day were sent to the gas chambers. If you were shaven, and your face looked ruddier for it, your chances of escaping death that day were better.

Their bodies wasted away on the daily fare of 10.5 ounces of bread and 1.75 pints of thin gruel. They slept on bare board tiers seven feet wide, nine men to a tier. The nine men shared two blankets together. Three shrill whistles awoke them for work at 3am.

A Voice For The Rural Women Of China

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 23:39:40 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

Xie Lihua's parents wanted a boy. But on the day Xie was born in a poor village in rural Shandong province, her mother learned she had given birth to a second daughter.

She wept in anger. And she slapped her new baby.

"Another girl!" she cried.

The year was 1951. Girls were considered a worthless commodity in an agrarian society that relied upon the strength of young men to flourish. Xie grew up knowing her place -- as a handmaiden to her younger brother.

"My sister and I knew that all the good food went to him -- when he was done, then we could eat," she recalled.

Today, Xie is a fierce activist for women's rights, working to inspire a quiet revolution. She wants to show a dominant male culture that the nation's women deserve respect, and are equals.

As important, she is trying to convince the women themselves.

Tags: you, go, girl

The Force is strong with this one.

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:30:16 GMT

clipped by: Newfman

Clip Source: www.foxnews.com

An 11-year-old boy demonstrated The Force when he defended his mom by hitting an attacker with a toy lightsaber.

The man, in his 30s, fled after being confronted by the youngster outside a bakery in Swardeston, near Norwich, England.

Police said the boy hit the man with his toy after the man had punched and verbally abused his mother as she approached her car.

Officers are appealing for witnesses to the Dec. 22 attack.

Allan Jennings of the Norfolk Police said: "The incident caused quite a commotion and it is unlikely it would have gone unnoticed."

Eight of the funniest research projects ever

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:16:59 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.cosmosmagazine.com

SYDNEY: Strange things are done in the name of research and the more memorable are commemorated by the Ig Nobel prizes, brainchild of the Annals of Improbable Research magazine, which aims to honour achievements that make people laugh and then think.

RODENT JETSETTERS

How does a hamster feel when you simulate jetlag?

SURPRISING FLAVOUR

Vanilla can come from the most unlikely of sources.

for developing a way to extract vanillin from cow faeces. Why cow dung? It's cheaper

FLAT BEER

How many mathematicians do you need to watch beer go flat? Just the one

the observation will lead to a proof that beer froth obeys the law of exponential decay

REINVENTING THE WHEEL

I REALLY, REALLY LOVE YOU

It might be roses and moonlight to you, but to your friends, obsession with your new love may seem more like a disease

MURPHY'S TOAST

Does toast more often land buttered-side down?

SMELLY FEET

It might be sweat and bacteria, but the main factor in how bad your feet smell is how you feel about them

HAPPY CLAMS

Tags: strange, research, projects

100 things we didn't know last year

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 18:28:11 GMT

clipped by: Bluephoenix4

Clip Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Brazil nuts are seeds encased in an outer shell that weighs more than 1kg.

Antony and Cleopatra were ugly.

Chimpanzees make their own spears for hunting.

Only about half of China's population can speak the national language, Mandarin.

There is mobile phone reception from the summit of Mount Everest.

Anti-Americanism began in Paris in the 18th Century.

Denmark is the happiest country in Europe; Italy the unhappiest

The secret to happiness is accepting misery

Peanuts can be made into diamonds

Renowned atheist Professor Richard Dawkins likes singing Christmas carols

The Australian town of Eucla has its own time zone

Gun ownership per person in Finland is the third highest in the world

IP addresses will run out in 2010

CO2 emissions from shipping are twice the level of aviation

Kryptonite exists

Dumbledore is gay

Woodwork lessons are known as "resistant materials" in schools

Zsa Zsa Gabor is related to Paris Hilton

In Iceland, 96% of women go to university

Newcastle is the noisiest place in England

Tags: trivia, facts, bbc, 2007

Really Bloody Awful WW1 photos of DEATH

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:05:19 GMT

clipped by: righthand
clipper's remarks: Be Warned. Some of these will SHOCK!

After WW2m the German citizens were brought to the death camps to see the horror practised in their name. Any advocating war against ANYONE - Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Cuba, whoever - should first have to view such photos. There are worse on the site, if you dare.

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