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Why do women's clothes button from the left, while men's button from the right?

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:55:42 GMT

clipped by: michellezm

Around 90 per cent of the world's population is right-handed, and it is easier for right-handers to button shirts from the right. So why do women's garments button from the left?

This is an example in which history seems to matter. When buttons first appeared in the 17th century, they were seen only on garments of the wealthy. At that time it was the custom for rich men to dress themselves and for women to be dressed by servants.

Having women's shirts button from the left thus made things easier for the mostly right-handed servants who dressed them. Having men's shirts button from the right made sense not only because most men dressed themselves, but also because a sword drawn from the left hip with the right hand would be less likely to become caught in the shirt. Today, virtually no women are dressed by servants, so why is buttoning from the left still the norm for women?

In economics, a norm, once established, resists change.

I'm With Stupid

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 12:53:08 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: I like how mankind is slobbering all over himself.

Clip Source: onemanbandwidth.com

Evolution of Life Was Stalled for 2 Billion Years

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:29:26 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken

Clip Source: www.dailygalaxy.com

Evolution of Life was Stalled for 2 Billion Years

A coherent picture of the environmental conditions that led to the evolution of animal life is finally emerging. Scientists say that oxygen deficiency and a lack of the heavy metal molybdenum in the oceans had blocked the evolution of life on Earth for nearly two billion years.

The molybdenum record shows that the second step occurred around 600 million years ago, when the entire ocean became oxygenated, which enabled the rise of multi-cellular life called eukaryotes -- the category that includes plants, humans and other complex creatures.

"These molybdenum depletions may have retarded the development of complex life such as animals for almost two billion years of Earth history," said Timothy Lyons, a professor at University of California Riverside. "The amount of molybdenum in the ocean probably played a major role in the development of life."

Molybdenum levels are also a reliable indicator of oxygen levels in ocean chemistry.

Tigers in the Air

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:14:41 GMT

clipped by: syncopath
clipper's remarks: 10x to alanocu graves clip i came to know this site. Maybe the reasons are grave -)) but the art & the visual expressions are quite impressive. more about this artist at source.

Clip Source: www.lifeinthefastlane.ca

Explosives artist Cai Guo-Qiang’s recent installation was created in protest at the human rights abuses within China and the regime’s support for the Sudanese government. The dramatic art installation “I Want to Believe” retrospective is being displayed at the Guggenheim Museum, New York,

The Chinese artist’s shocking speared tigers installation — of life-sized replicas — is aimed at highlighting the killing of the endangered beasts.

“Looking at the work that I’ve done, I’ve noticed things sticking into or out of objects a lot. I think this has to do with my interest in explosions, but it also has to do with the esthetics of pain.” says Cai.

“There is a very visceral response that the audience has to the work — they feel pain when they see the tigers.”

“It’s a stage setting that you enter into.” he says. “It’s through visual impact that you translate these ideas. And it’s through visual impact that this pain is felt.”

Cai Guo-Qiang is one of the most prominent living Chinese artists.

A Shoebox In Her Bureau

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:46:05 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

The moving story of one of the last survivors of the Titanic can be revealed for the first time after touching letters and documents were discovered after her death.

For 94 years Lillian Asplund refused to speak about the tragedy that claimed the lives of her father and three brothers.

Instead, the spinster kept the final moments of her family locked in her memory and the poignant possessions of her father Carl hidden in a shoebox in her bureau.

It was only after her death aged 99 the box was found along with the collection of Titanic-related items that, pieced together, tell the tragic story of the family's demise.

"She never married and the tragedy must have left a huge emotional scar on her.

"Her family obviously knew she had survived the Titanic but had no idea about this box, let alone what was inside it.

The epidemic of loneliness

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:51:46 GMT

clipped by: michellezm
clipper's remarks: Interesting read

Clip Source: www.dailymail.co.uk

The American writer Maya Angelou wrote a poem which contains the lines: "Nobody, but nobody/Can make it out here alone."

If she is right, it's a frightening truth. For millions of people feel they have no option but to struggle on alone. They do not choose solitude like the hermit, recluse or artist. Theirs is the punishment of solitary confinement which is the prisoner's torture.

The irony is that in this world of frenetic communication, more and more people feel there is nobody who wants to communicate with them at a meaningful level.

think of the electronic ether, zinging with messages and junk mail, billions upon billions of words and symbols, keeping people in touch as well as peddling everything from shoes to sex.

What does it add up to? What use are the multi-layers of "communication" when so many people have no feeling of belonging? We are deceived by communication. Mistaking it for community, we pay the price each day in a downward spiral of mental health.

Dogs Can Smell Cancer

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 10:17:16 GMT

clipped by: carrerinyes
clipper's remarks: I would love to read the article but it's a pay site. Arr! Has anyone heard of this elsewhere?

Clip Source: knowledgenews.net

Dogs Can Smell Cancer

Watch out. Your medical care may soon go to the dogs. That's because a scientific study released at the start of 2006 confirms that, as some anecdotal reports suggest, dogs can smell cancer.

"We've seen anecdotal evidence before suggesting that dogs can smell the presence of certain types of cancer," says lead researcher Michael McCulloch, "but until now, nobody had conducted a thorough study."

The Math of Love & Sex Explained

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:34:48 GMT

clipped by: BartendingBear
clipper's remarks: An astute observation, to be sure.

Clip Source: theworldofm.wordpress.com

You add the bed… subtract the clothes… divide the legs…
leave your solution… and pray you don’t multiply!

lol lol lolCATS etc

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 05:52:07 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead

Clip Source: icanhascheezburger.com

Tags: humor, humour, cats

Grave Stress Therapy and Strange Resting Places

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 06:16:04 GMT

clipped by: alanocu
clipper's remarks: Those pesky and unrelenting journalists - always crashing the party and spoiling the mood. (LOL) More explanation for each photo at the source.

Clip Source: www.lifeinthefastlane.ca

A German priest has taken stress relief to an all-time high — or low, as the case may be — when he developed a rather bizarre strategy to help parishioners escape the stresses of daily life by having them lie in a true-to-life open grave.

“I meant it as a meditative exercise.” pastor Thorsten Nolting, from the western German city of Duesseldorf said. “I wanted people to think about what weighs on them down in the darkness and gather the energy to resist it.”

Nolting said his plan went “horribly wrong” when journalists’ relentlessly questioned parishioners that were “laid to rest,” destroying the serenity and atmosphere of the event.

“It wasn’t silent, as it should have been. They ruined it. (They) would not go away, even when I asked them.” Nolting said.

Extraverts who could cope with the unrelenting questioning were happy to climb down into the 6.5 foot (2 meter) long hole, and then rave about their “resurrection.” Nolting added.

Bizarre Graves

What Is The Morally Right Thing To Do...?

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:37:42 GMT

clipped by: carrerinyes
clipper's remarks: Couldn't clip it all...

Clip Source: www.tru.ca

What is the morally right thing to do in the following cases?

Be sure to discuss your reasons and possible alternative solutions to the one that you propose. Is what you would 'actually' do different from what you 'should' do? If so, why?

1. The sheriff in a southern town is guarding the courthouse against a mob that is about to storm it by force, in order to capture a black prisoner and lynch him even before his trial. If the mob is frustrated, many people may be killed in the ensuing riot. Should the sheriff deliver the prisoner to the mob?

4. A rich man and a poor man commit the same type of crime. The rich man is fined $10,000 while the poor man is sent to jail for one year. Is this fair?

5. You are on a country road and see two neighbouring farm houses on fire. One is yours and the other belongs to a new couple who just moved in. Your wife and child are at home as are your neighbours. You can only save one house. Which one do you save?

Confucius and friends

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 14:42:13 GMT

clipped by: dakotayii
clipper's remarks: It's Friday....

Clip Source: losangeles.craigslist.org

Tags: jokes

Colbert Speaks - quote

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 21:56:04 GMT

clipped by: kkcapricorn

Clip Source: 112.gmodules.com

This book [I am America] isn't for people who are good at reading... It's for real Americans. (Oct 1, 2007)

Words of Love

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:41:42 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Clip Source: users.tinyonline.co.uk

ablutophiliaSexual arousal from baths or showers

acarophilyAffinity with mites

agliaphiliaLove of pain

agonophilliaSexual arousal from a partner pretending to struggle

chiropterophilousAffinity with bats

chronophiliaSexual attraction to a partner of significantly different age

epistemophiliaLove of knowledge

eproctophiliaSexual arousal from flatulence

formicophiliaSexual arousal from ants crawling on one's genitals

homilophiliaSexual arousal from hearing or giving sermons

hoplophiliaSexual arousal from firearms and weaponry

mastigophiliaSexual gratification from being punished

ornithocophilousAffinity with bird excrement

philhelleneLover of Greece

philomathLover of learning

phobophiliaSexual arousal from fear

pygophilistLover of buttocks

rhabdophiliaSexual arousal from being flogged, beaten or caned

siderodromophiliaSexual arousal from trains

stegophilistOne whose pastime is climbing the outside of buldings

xyrophiliaLove or attraction to blades and razors

zebraphiliaLove of zebras

Tags: philia

Earliest ever recording causes hilarity at the BBC

Fri, 28 Mar 2008 16:09:16 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: This is even funnier if you're a regular listener to BBC radio. Charlotte Green is usually so professional.

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

Earliest ever sound recording

Old audio causes hilarity