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McCain baffled by condom question

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:40:00 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "You've stumped me" on whether condoms help stop HIV. "I have to find out what my position was."

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Mr. McCain: "I haven’t thought about it.

should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?"

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) "Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy."

Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?

Mr. McCain: (Long pause) "You’ve stumped me."

Q: "I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?"

Mr. McCain: (Laughs) "Are we on the Straight Talk express?

I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it."

Q: "But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases.

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) "Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before."

Tags: politics

UK Female Prisons are MENTAL: Self-Harm, Suicide

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 08:22:45 GMT

clipped by: righthand

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Women's wing at a prison

Sick and suicidal: plight of women in UK jails

Most women prisoners have mental health problems, and nine of out 10 were convicted of non-violent offences. Now a new study shows an alarming rise in suicides and self-harm - and behind the statistics lie ruined lives and shattered relatives. With four inquests about to open, Amelia Hill reports on the growing scandal in Britain's penal system

Kent set herself on fire in her cell

two months ago, she had already tried to hang herself twice

five weeks after her suicide attempt

lay in a medically induced coma in the intensive-care unit

third-degree burns from her thighs to her earlobes, the loss of use in her fingers and a face

she was virtually unrecognisable.

48 per cent rise in the number of self-harm incidents in women's prisons in the past five years

530 per cent increase since 2003

harm themselves an average of 6.3 times a year

increased by two thirds in just five years

female prison population

doubled between 1997 and 2006

Tags: uk, prisoners, female, suicide, health

The Oldest Known Electric Battery

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 19:54:58 GMT

clipped by: Sheroug

Clip Source: www.corrosion-doctors.org

Baghdad Battery

A 2,200-year-old clay jar found near Baghdad, Iraq, has been described as the oldest known electric battery in existence. The clay jar and others like it are part of the holdings of the National Museum of Iraq and have been attributed to the Parthian Empire

how is it that a 2,200-year-old clay jar can be called a battery?

Those who’ve examined it closely say that there’s little else that it can be. The nondescript earthen jar is only 5½ inches high by 3 inches across. The opening was sealed with an asphalt plug, which held in place a copper sheet, rolled into a tube. This tube was capped at the bottom with a copper disc held in place by more asphalt. A narrow iron rod was stuck through the upper asphalt plug and hung down into the center of the copper tube — not touching any part of it.

The inner workings of the Baghdad Battery

Fill the jar with an acidic liquid, such as vinegar or fermented grape juice, and you have yourself a battery capable of generating a small current

Tags: hisotry, battery

Once bitten ...

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 10:07:16 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

The science of nanotechnology is already revolutionising the worlds of medicine and construction. Soon it could be doing the same for our food - but after the backlash against GM foods, says Steve Boggan, will the consumers swallow it?

How do you fancy tucking into a bowl of ice cream that has no more fat than a carrot? Or eating a burger that will lower your cholesterol? If you are allergic to peanuts, perhaps you'd like to fix your food so that any nut traces pass harmlessly through your body. Welcome to the world of nanofoods, where almost anything is possible: where food can be manipulated at an atomic or molecular level to taste as delicious as you want, do you as much good as you want, and stay fresh for ... well, who knows?

A world where smart pesticides are harmless until they reach the stomachs of destructive insects; where food manufacturers promise an end to starvation; where smart packaging sniffs out and destroys the micro-organisms that make good food go bad

Tags: nanotech, food