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Dr. George Tiller, abortion provider, shot dead at church

Sun, 31 May 2009 18:44:56 GMT

clipped by: dulios
clipper's remarks: I was afraid that this violence would again rear its ugly head under a Democratic president.

God damn it.

UPDATE: Suspect in custody.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

George Tiller, a Wichita doctor who was one of the few doctors in the nation to perform late-term abortions, was shot to death on Sunday as he attended church, city officials in Wichita said.

Dr. Tiller, who had performed abortions since the 1970s, had long been a lightning rod for controversy over the issue of abortion, particularly in Kansas, where abortion opponents regularly protested outside his clinic and sometimes his home and church. In 1993, he was shot in both arms by an abortion opponent but recovered.

He had also been the subject of many efforts at prosecution, including a citizen-initiated grand jury investigation. In the latest such effort, in March, Dr. Tiller was acquitted of charges that he had performed late-term abortions that violated state law.

The shooting occurred at around 10 a.m. (Central time) at Reformation Lutheran Church on the city’s East Side, Dr. Tiller’s regular church.

Tags: tiller, abortion, kansas, assassination, domestic terrorism

Being Ethical In An Era Of Immorality

Sun, 31 May 2009 16:14:03 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

When a new crop of future business leaders graduates from the Harvard Business School next week, many of them will be taking a new oath that says, in effect, greed is not good.

Nearly 20 percent of the graduating class have signed “The M.B.A. Oath,” a voluntary student-led pledge that the goal of a business manager is to “serve the greater good.” It promises that Harvard M.B.A.’s will act responsibly, ethically and refrain from advancing their “own narrow ambitions” at the expense of others.

Those graduating today, they say, are far more concerned about how corporations affect the community, the lives of its workers and the environment.

Tags: good, for, them

"I'm sick and tired of being ashamed of my country"

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:14:14 GMT

clipped by: Lexica

Clip Source: bradhicks.livejournal.com

I'm ashamed that the second consecutive presidential administration has asserted the right to suspend habeas corpus

that the current administration is engaged in an extensive cover-up of American war crimes and crimes against humanity by its predecessor

that electing our first black male President has meant exactly nothing about the fact that black men are incarcerated seven times as often as whites or as black women who commit the same crimes

I'm even sicker of, I'm even more ashamed of, living in a country where the

best anti-terrorism experts warned us

that we were in danger of a terrorist attack on US soil by right wing extremists

rose up in protest that they were being unfairly persecuted and unfairly accused

their complaints were treated as serious

less than two months before, for the second time in two years, yet another Christocratic Wingnutistani assassinated a fellow America, in church, for the crime of claiming to be Christian and not hewing to the Republican Party line.

Tags: abortion, murder, politics, america, assassination, violence

Remains of 200m year-old Loch Ness-style creature found

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:19:28 GMT

clipped by: valann 47

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

The remains of a Loch Ness-style creature that lived in the English Channel 200 million years ago have been found on a beach.

Artist's impression of the creature Photo: BNPS

Archaeologists have spent months piecing together dozens of old bones found encased in limestone on Britain's Jurassic Coast by a fossil hunter.

After nearly completing the jigsaw-like puzzle they have disclosed that the skeleton, which is 70 per cent complete, is that of a 12ft long plesiosaur.

The marine reptile resembled the Loch Ness monster with its long thin neck and tail, four large flippers and razor-sharp teeth.

Plesiosaurs existed during the Jurassic period 150 to 200 million years ago when what is now the Channel was a shallow, tropical sea.

Detailed examination of the bones revealed teeth marks from where a predatory dinosaur would have feasted on the carcass of the "lake monster".

"They are rare. There are only 10 known examples of complete or even partial skeletons of this species.

Tags: marine reptile, plesiosaur, bones, uk

Sweet tooth drives tool use in chimpanzees

Sun, 31 May 2009 11:02:22 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Very impressive evidence of near human intelligence.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

Sweet tooth drives tool use in chimpanzees

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IF YOU'RE impressed that chimps can use tools to hunt or crack nuts, wait till you hear what they do when foraging for honey. Not only do they construct several different tools for the purpose, but they use them sequentially - an achievement approaching the abilities of early Stone Age humans.

Clip Source: www.sciencedirect.com

Chimpanzees in Loango, when using tools to extract honey from three types of bee nests, were observed to regularly use three- to five-element tool sets. In other words, different types of tools were used sequentially to access a single food source

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

thin, straight sticks to probe the ground for buried nests; thick, blunt-ended pounders to break open beehive entrances; thinner lever-like enlargers to break down walls within the hive; collectors with frayed ends to dip honey from the opened hive and bark spoons to scoop it out. Various tools were often found near the same hive, suggesting that the chimps employ them in sequence

Tags: chimpanzee, intelligence, tools

Remains of temple of Isis found

Sun, 31 May 2009 17:59:48 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly

Clip Source: www.ansa.it

(ANSA) - Florence, May 28 - Workmen inside Florence's courthouse have stumbled across a spiral column and hundreds of multicoloured fragments that experts believe may have belonged to a Roman temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Dating to the second century AD, the remains were discovered as the men dug a five by three metre hole, barely four metres deep, for a new water cistern for the courthouse's anti-incendiary system.

''These finds are of extraordinary importance,'' said Alessandro Palchetti, the archaeologist charged with overseeing the works in the courthouse by Florence's archaeology superintendency, who suspected something interesting might be uncovered because of the area's historic relevance.

The location of the temple is unknown, Palchetti said, but it is believed to have been built just outside the Roman part of the city, near the current courthouse building.

Archaeologists Excavate Ancient Maya River Port

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 18:23:03 GMT

clipped by: cakebelly
clipper's remarks: more through link

Clip Source: www.laht.com

By Kristian Cerino

BALANCAN, Mexico – The finding of 23 archaeological pieces from about 600 BC has strengthened the historic importance of the Maya city of Moral-Reforma, a river port located in the current Mexican state of Tabasco which was almost unknown until a group of experts began excavating it three months ago.

The archaeological site, which is 87 hectares (217 acres) in size, is located adjacent to the ranching community of Reforma.

Moral-Reforma functioned as a port or bartering spot for other Maya cities in the present-day states of Campeche and Chiapas, and in neighboring Guatemala.

Running together near the ruins are the Usumacinta River – the country’s largest – and the San Pedro River, a communications route with southern Mexico.

“The hypothesis tells us that this zone could have been a route for those who were ... seeking to trade,” said Lopez at the site, where the temperature reaches 45 C (113 F) at this time of year.

Goodbye, GM ...by Michael Moore

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:13:27 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: MM knows of which he writes

1. Just as President Roosevelt did after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the President must tell the nation that we are at war and we must immediately convert our auto factories to factories that build mass transit vehicles and alternative energy devices. Within months in Flint in 1942, GM halted all car production and immediately used the assembly lines to build planes, tanks and machine guns. The conversion took no time at all. Everyone pitched in. The fascists were defeated.

We are now in a different kind of war -- a war that we have conducted against the ecosystem and has been conducted by our very own corporate leaders. This current war has two fronts. One is headquartered in Detroit. The products built in the factories of GM, Ford and Chrysler are some of the greatest weapons of mass destruction responsible for global warming and the melting of our polar icecaps. The things we call "cars" may have been fun to drive, but they are like a million dagger

Clip Source: www.michaelmoore.com

I write this on the morning of the end of the once-mighty General Motors. By high noon, the President of the United States will have made it official: General Motors, as we know it, has been totaled.

As I sit here in GM's birthplace, Flint, Michigan, I am surrounded by friends and family who are filled with anxiety about what will happen to them and to the town. Forty percent of the homes and businesses in the city have been abandoned. Imagine what it would be like if you lived in a city where almost every other house is empty. What would be your state of mind?

8 Terrifying Instruments Old-Time Doctors Used on Your Junk

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:20:45 GMT

clipped by: CrazyRedHead
clipper's remarks: There were all sorts of reasons not to go to the doctor back in the old days, back when their bags were full of mercury vials and hacksaws. And when the often puritanical patients had problems "down there" they were probably even more hesitant.

Clip Source: www.cracked.com

Violet Ray Generators

Are you fascinated by the works of Nikola Tesla? Do you often find yourself wondering how you can cram one of Tesla's most famous inventions in your ass?

Lawson's Vaginal Washer

In the pre-douche era, a time of great Victorian craftsmanship and artistry, one man sought out to take on the problem of feminine hygiene. This man, having never seen an actual vagina up close, invented Lawson's vaginal washer.

There's only one picture of the vaginal washer available. This is an egg beater. Same principles apply.

Spermatorrhea Ring

Victorian era folks tended to believe that masturbation and nocturnal emissions could have devastating effects on the body, including blindness and retardation.

That's right, to combat the growing problem of unnecessary erections many inventors worked feverishly to devise contraptions that could effectively neutralize wang swelling.

Also there are spikes.

Rectal Dilators

Clip Source: www.cracked.com

Prostate Warmer

The Recto Rotor

Electric Belt with Penis Strap

Tags: medicine, medical, science, pseudoscience, health, bizarre, humor

Republicans turn on Dick Cheney over Barack Obama attack

Sun, 31 May 2009 11:36:26 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501
clipper's remarks: Senior Republicans have turned on the former US vice president Dick Cheney after he launched a high-profile attack on Barack Obama over national security.

Clip Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Discordant voices have emerged from the Right to challenge Mr Cheney's defence of the Bush-era legacy

In his audacious attack on a sitting president last week, Mr Cheney declared that America was less safe from terrorism after Mr Obama's decision to abandon violent interrogation methods and close Guantanamo.

Yeah, I disagree with Dick Cheney," said Tom Ridge,

"It's just the whole notion of a Republican vice president giving a speech after the incumbent Democratic president," Mr Ridge told CNN. "It's gotta go beyond the politics of either party."

Mr Cheney's daughter, Liz, is his most high-profile supporter. On television - where she has made 12 appearances in recent days - she hinted at a fear of prosecution, just as her father did in his speech.

John McCain, flatly rejected Mr Cheney's support for interrogation techniques condemned as torture by the Red Cross.

Cheney "believes that waterboarding

it's not a form of torture. But, you know, it goes back to the Spanish Inquisition."

Cactus Flowers

Sun, 31 May 2009 20:26:17 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.environmentalgraffiti.com

Many cactus flowers are night blooming as they get pollinated by nocturnal insects like moths or small animals like bats. Depending on the cactus species, the flower shapes can be tube-like, bell-like or wheel-shaped. Sizes range from one fifth of a centimetre to 15-30 cm.

The many flowers of this barrel cactus have matured into fruits that themselves seem to form a flower again:

Researchers Resurrect Extinct Musical Instrument

Sun, 31 May 2009 14:38:49 GMT

clipped by: skwirlinator
clipper's remarks: Bach’s classical masterpiece is the only known musical composition in the world to specify the use of the Lituus.
Interesting.

Clip Source: www.redorbit.com

Researchers Resurrect Extinct Musical Instrument

A new computer program has helped researchers to recreate a long extinct musical instrument known as the Lituus.

Though the 8-foot long trumpet-like instrument was popular in ancient Rome and throughout the middle-ages, it began to fall out of favor with composers some 300 years ago. Johann Sebastian Bach’s “O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht” — composed in 1736 — is one of the last known pieces of music to have been written for the instrument.

For the first time in hundreds of years, classical music buffs have been able to hear this famous composition as Bach intended it to sound.

Experts say that due to its size, it is an extremely awkward and difficult instrument to play and is able to produce only a limited range of notes. However, if played correctly, they say it lends Bach’s famous work a haunting, melancholy tone not achievable with modern instruments.

Tags: researchers, extinct musical instrument, lituus, bach

Sr Joan Chittister: Obama at Notre Dame

Sun, 31 May 2009 04:24:11 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: "It was an attempt to move beyond force, beyond the denunciation of those who are just as committed to resolving problems as we are without making outlaws of those for whom the issue cannot wait for long-term answers."

Clip Source: ncronline.org

The speech was not about abortion at all. It was about lots of Catholic things -- if Catholics will only remember them

It was, in fact, more about the model of a Jesus who could talk to Roman soldiers and Samaritan women, to Pharisees and to adulterers with respect and with care. It was a recall of the Jesus who refused to condemn either the Roman emperor or his soldiers. It was also a call, at least indirectly, to the next generation to "put down their swords," to stop calling their opposite numbers -- those who seek to make abortion unnecessary than to criminalize it -- "murderers" and to listen to one another

It was a call to adults to stop acting like sophomores in the name of faith

It was, most of all, a very Catholic speech.

It deals with issues that have been a Catholic agenda for over 100 years of social justice encyclicals.

From where I stand

We spoke clearly for the sacredness of life, yes, but we were also called not to leave any part of life out of our search for its sacredness.

Tags: chittister, abortion, notre dame

Twitter's Biggest Egos Exposed

Sun, 31 May 2009 23:31:43 GMT

clipped by: Kelika

Clip Source: www.time.com

Maybe the trendy messaging website coaxes contributors into feeling anonymous and uninhibited. Perhaps its short-burst format encourages streams of consciousness that go tragically unedited. Or, possibly, the world is full of more jerks than we care to acknowledge. Whatever the explanation, a shocking number of Twitterers manage to use just 140 characters to come across as massive jackasses.

"It's so life-affirming when the poor fall in love," Christy from Los Angeles shares with her followers.

"Watching a LOT of fashion mistakes go past whilst waiting for the bus," a British Twitterer pouts. "This is why I don't use public transport."

These paragons of narcissism, misanthropy and delusion now have a shrine of their own, at tweetingtoohard.com (tagline: "Where self-important tweets get the recognition they deserve."). The website features more than 2,700 messages, which visitors rank in terms of offensiveness.

Holding On To Our Humanity

Sun, 31 May 2009 16:21:37 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Overload is a real problem. There is a danger that even the most decent of people can grow numb to the unending reports of atrocities occurring all around the globe. Mass rape. Mass murder. Torture. The institutionalized oppression of women.

There are other things in the world: a ballgame, your daughter’s graduation, the ballet. The tendency to draw an impenetrable psychic curtain across the worst that the world has to offer is understandable. But it’s a tendency, as Elie Wiesel has cautioned, that must be fought.

The woman recalled that in that moment, the kind of throbbing moment when time is not just stopped but lost, when it ceases to have any meaning

“It is so much easier to look away from victims,” said Mr. Wiesel, in a speech at the White House in 1999. “It is so much easier to avoid such rude interruptions to our work, our dreams, our hopes.”

But indifference to the suffering of others “is what makes the human being inhuman