Clipmarks |

Flirting and the Purpose of Life

Thu, 29 May 2008 09:45:55 GMT

clipped by: abailart

Flirtation is a game we play, a dance for which everyone knows the moves. "People can flirt outrageously without intending anything,"

"Flirting captures the interest of the other person and says 'Would you like to play?'" And one of the most exhilarating things about the game is that the normal rules of social interaction are rubberized. Clarity is not the point.

"Flirting opens a window of potential. Not yes, not no," says Perper. "So we engage ourselves in this complex game of maybe."

Flirting "is a way of testing one's mate-value and the possibility of alternatives--actually trying to see if someone might be available as an alternative,"

To evolutionary biologists, the advantages of this are clear: mates die, offspring die. Flirting is a little like taking out mating insurance.

these little acts "contact-readiness" cues,

are a crucial part of what's known in human-ethology circles as the "heterosexual relationship initiation process"

Tags: flirting

The cycle of life

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:37:43 GMT

clipped by: boozich

Clip Source: www.allowe.com

20 Most Fascinating Prehistoric Paintings

Thu, 29 May 2008 03:39:23 GMT

clipped by: Socratoad

Clip Source: www.oddee.com

20 Most Fascinating Prehistoric Paintings

Lascaux Caves: the prehistoric Sistine Chapel

Known as "the prehistoric Sistine Chapel," the Lascaux Caves, a cave complex in southwestern France, contain some of the most remarkable paleolithic cave paintings in the world, from at least 15,000 years ago.

The cave was discovered on 12 September 1940 by four teenagers, Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel, and Simon Coencas, as well as Ravidat's dog, Robot. Public access was made easier after World War II. By 1955, the carbon dioxide produced by 1,200 visitors per day had visibly damaged the paintings. The cave was closed to the public in 1963 in order to preserve the art.

Altamira Caves: as Picasso famously exclaimed, "after Altamira, all is decadence"

Chauvet Caves: spectacular artwork

Magura Cave: peeking into the prehistoric world

Cosquer Cave: an underwater cave from up to 27,000 years ago

Font de Gaume: the best example of polychrome painting

What is wrong with this idiot????

Thu, 29 May 2008 14:03:42 GMT

clipped by: mooner-one

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

Some Call It Faith
An American President Steps Over the Line (Again)

How do you live with yourself if you’re responsible for the deaths of 4,000 American soldiers and uncounted hundreds of thousands of Iraqis?

His 2008 Memorial Day radio address gave away the game in one sentence

Right at the end of a few minutes of the usual patriotic vacuities, he asks all Americans to remember the soldiers who paid the ultimate price, who were “delivered out of the agony of war to meet their Creator.”

A statement which basically says, “4,000 soldiers have died, but that’s OK because however awful their deaths were, they’re now a lot better off than they were before (and than we are who are still struggling along on Earth) because, well, they’re face-to-face with the Big Guy Himself. So, not to worry.”

But here, in this one sentence, he revealed in total clarity, the extent to which he has bought into the most simplistic, bedrock faux reality of the right-wing religionists.

The Science of Irrationality: Why We Humans Behave So Strangely

Wed, 28 May 2008 17:00:38 GMT

clipped by: wildcat

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

The Science of Irrationality: Why We Humans Behave So Strangely

MIT's Dan Ariely discusses his research in behavioral economics and explains how to deal with our brain's flawed decision-making process

Dan Ariely is a behavioral economist at the Massachusetts Intitute of Technology and author of the best-selling book, Predictably Irrational (HarperCollins, 2008). In recent years, he has demonstrated that random digits can influence bids in an auction, that sexual arousal leads to reckless decisions (at least in college males) and that brand-name aspirin is more effective at treating headaches than generic aspirin, even when the pills are identical. Mind Matters editor Jonah Lehrer chats with Ariely about his research.

Most of my experiments begin as a way for me to investigate and gain a better understanding of my own behavior or the behavior that I observe around me

Tags: irrationality, behavior, brain

Legal Weed Is Just Beer

Thu, 29 May 2008 13:17:09 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.latimes.com

WEED, CALIF. -- -- This town is in a tempest over a bottle top.

The federal government is telling the owner of a small brewery here that the pun he's placed on caps of his Weed Ales crosses a line.

"Try Legal Weed," the caps joke.

The U.S. Treasury Department's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau says those three little words allude to marijuana use.

Vaune Dillmann, owner of Mt. Shasta Brewing Co., says he was just trying to grab attention for his beers and this tough-luck place in the morning shadow of Mt. Shasta.

The bureau's bureaucrats have told Dillmann he needs to stop using the "Try Legal Weed" bottle caps. If he doesn't, he could risk fines or sanctions. His worst fear: being forced out of business.

"This is ludicrous, bizarre, like meeting Big Brother face-to-face," he grumbled recently. "Forget freedom of speech and the 1st Amendment. They are the regulatory gods, a judge and jury all rolled into one. This is a life-or-death issue for my business."

Ancient Egyptian city unearthed in Sinai

Thu, 29 May 2008 00:02:21 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Another "Breaking News" story from Zahi Hawass... Hmm...

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

CAIRO, Egypt - Archaeologists exploring an old military road in the Sinai have unearthed 3,000-year-old remains from an ancient fortified city, the largest yet found in Egypt, antiquities authorities announced Wednesday.

Among the discoveries at the site was a relief of King Thutmose II (1516-1504 B.C.), thought to be the first such royal monument discovered in Sinai, said Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities. It indicates that Thutmose II may have built a fort near the ancient city, located about two miles northeast of present day Qantara and known historically as Tharu.

A 550-by-275-yard mud brick fort with several 13-foot-high towers dating to King Ramses II (1304-1237 B.C.) was unearthed in the same area, he said.

The ancient military road, known as "Way of Horus," once connected Egypt to Palestine and is close to present-day Rafah, which borders the Palestinian territory of Gaza.

Tags: egypt, archaeology, sinai, new kingdom, zahi hawass

81 Unbelievable Animal Pictures

Wed, 28 May 2008 21:56:02 GMT

clipped by: dannad
clipper's remarks: Beautiful, especially the cats and the birds

Clip Source: www.linkinn.com

Tags: dannad, beautiful, awesome, animals, pics, pictures, 81, unbelievable

Threatened Species, from the Very Large to the Very Small

Wed, 28 May 2008 19:32:49 GMT

clipped by: arifsali

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

Just a few weeks ago, the polar bear was identified as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. As the ice in the bear's Arctic habitat melts due to global warming, many of these furry beasts will drown or starve to death. Other ice dwellers, like the walrus, will also struggle to survive as the planet heats up.

And it's not just the big animals that will suffer—even tiny mammals like the American pika and marine life like the Atlantic lobster face a bleak future.

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

AMERICAN PIKA:

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

POLAR BEAR:

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

POLAR BEAR WITH CUBS:

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

GREEN SEA TURTLE:

Clip Source: www.sciam.com

WALRUS:

Tags: species, animals, environment

Little Octopus a tool user?

Thu, 29 May 2008 00:39:14 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: fascinatin little guy.

Clip Source: community.livejournal.com

So so cute!

"How do you define tool use? I came across the little octopus on a night dive. He was walking around carrying two halves of a shell with him. When threatened, he closed himself up inside the shell. Now many animals, like the hermit crab, adopt a shell for protection but in this case the octopus carried around two sides that he knew fit together. That comes close to tool use in my book.

An Ocean World Podcast about the Blanket Octopus provides an even better case of tool use. The Blanket Octopus is famous for sexual dimorphism, the male being much smaller (2cm) than the female (6ft). But the really cool thing, in my opinion, is the way the tiny male uses jellyfish tentacles. Apparently he gathers the living stinging tentacles from jelly fish, holds them between his suckers, and wields them when threatened."

Aristotle's Table Of Virtues

Wed, 28 May 2008 21:54:20 GMT

clipped by: carrerinyes

Clip Source: fs.huntingdon.edu

Most moral virtues, and not just courage, are understood as falling at the mean between two accompanying vices. Aristotle's list may be represented by the following table:
Vice of Deficiency	Virtuous Mean	Vice of Excess
Cowardice	Courage	Rashness
Insensibility	Temperance	Intemperance
Illiberality	Liberality	Prodigality
Pettiness	Munificence	Vulgarity
Humble-mindedness	High-mindedness	Vaingloriness
Want of Ambition	Right Ambition	Over-ambition
Spiritlessness	Good Temper	Irascibility
Surliness	Friendly Civility	Obsequiousness
Ironical Depreciation	Sincerity	Boastfulness
Boorishness	Wittiness	Buffoonery
Shamelessness	Modesty	Bashfulness
Callousness	Just Resentment	Spitefulness

Very nice....

Tue, 27 May 2008 20:21:24 GMT

clipped by: mooner-one

Clip Source: www.uphaa.com

Nature`s Special Effects

Source: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,

Submit to:

Singlism and Matrimania

Thu, 29 May 2008 12:33:39 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: I've noticed this, but wasn't aware there was a name to it.....interesting article; the author points out a few instances too

Clip Source: blogs.psychologytoday.com

One of the most tenacious myths about single people is that they are miserable and lonely, and suffer from ill-health and low self-esteem because, after all, they "don't have anyone." All that is pure nonsense - that's why I get to call these notions myths rather than realities

In many ways, though, it is understandable that people THINK singles are miserable. Singlism (the stereotyping and stigmatizing of people who are single) and matrimania (the over-the-top hyping of marriage and coupling) are the wallpaper of contemporary

life.

in its level of intensity, vitriol, and destructiveness, the discrimination faced by people who are single is not on a par with that faced by the targets of, say, racism or heterosexism

Unlike the better-known isms, however, singlism is often practiced without apology or even awareness

Also, although singlism is not likely to be as scathing as racism, the steady drip, drip, drip of it could drive single people over the edge

if they were not so amazingly resilient

Tags: discrimination, singles, marriage, people, society, couples

Tricking The Tongue

Wed, 28 May 2008 12:19:27 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

CARRIE DASHOW dropped a large dollop of lemon sorbet into a glass of Guinness, stirred, drank and proclaimed that it tasted like a “chocolate shake.”

Nearby, Yuka Yoneda tilted her head back as her boyfriend, Albert Yuen, drizzled Tabasco sauce onto her tongue. She swallowed and considered the flavor: “Doughnut glaze, hot doughnut glaze!”

They were among 40 or so people who were tasting under the influence of a small red berry called miracle fruit at a rooftop party in Long Island City, Queens, last Friday night. The berry rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors for an hour or so, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.

The miracle fruit, Synsepalum dulcificum, is native to West Africa and has been known to Westerners since the 18th century

The cause of the reaction is a protein called miraculin, which binds with the taste buds and acts as a sweetness inducer when it comes in contact with acids

periodic table of criminal elements

Thu, 29 May 2008 08:30:39 GMT

clipped by: boozich
clipper's remarks: have no idea who most of these are but it looks cool!!

Clip Source: www.horse-you-rode-in-on.com

Clipmarks |

Flirting and the Purpose of Life

The cycle of life

20 Most Fascinating Prehistoric Paintings

20 Most Fascinating Prehistoric Paintings

Lascaux Caves: the prehistoric Sistine Chapel

Altamira Caves: as Picasso famously exclaimed, "after Altamira, all is decadence"

Chauvet Caves: spectacular artwork

Magura Cave: peeking into the prehistoric world

Cosquer Cave: an underwater cave from up to 27,000 years ago

Font de Gaume: the best example of polychrome painting

What is wrong with this idiot????

Some Call It FaithAn American President Steps Over the Line (Again)

The Science of Irrationality: Why We Humans Behave So Strangely

The Science of Irrationality: Why We Humans Behave So Strangely

MIT's Dan Ariely discusses his research in behavioral economics and explains how to deal with our brain's flawed decision-making process

Legal Weed Is Just Beer

Ancient Egyptian city unearthed in Sinai

81 Unbelievable Animal Pictures

Threatened Species, from the Very Large to the Very Small

Little Octopus a tool user?

Aristotle's Table Of Virtues

Very nice....

Nature`s Special Effects

Singlism and Matrimania

Tricking The Tongue

periodic table of criminal elements

Some Call It Faith
An American President Steps Over the Line (Again)