Archive for July, 2010
International Young Water Professionals Discuss Water Fears
This week in Australia, the International Young Water Professionals meet to discuss the repercussions of climate change, war, and other factors on our water supply. In the driest continent, 25 countries are represented to voice concerns and contemplate solutions so that our growing populations and destructive habits don’t put an end to our tap water. Phil Mercer of The National covers:
Experts from Oman, Kenya and Austria joined others from across the world to discuss sustainability and how communities in drier regions must adapt to warmer temperatures to safeguard precious supplies into the future.
The meeting dealt with basic issues of survival, said Katerina Ruzicka, a research assistant at the Institute of Water Quality at Vienna’s University of Technology.
“A huge problem we are facing besides climate change is water for food,” Ms Ruzicka said. “We have to feed a growing population and you need water to produce food.
“Somehow we will be able to cope…
The Gulf of Mexico is Awash in 27,000 Abandoned Wells
An example of an abandoned oil well.
File this under: it could get much, much worse, or it’s so bad that we finally want to fix it, once and for all. Your thoughts are welcome. Jeff Donn and Mitch Weiss write in the AP via Google News:
More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades. No one — not industry, not government — is checking to see if they are leaking, an Associated Press investigation shows.
The oldest of these wells were abandoned in the late 1940s, raising the prospect that many deteriorating sealing jobs are already failing.
The AP investigation uncovered particular concern with 3,500 of the neglected wells — those characterized in federal government records as “temporarily abandoned.”
Regulations for temporarily abandoned wells require oil companies to present plans to reuse or permanently plug…
Meet A Fourth Time Lottery Winner
What are the odds of winning the lottery? Sufficient to say most player’s odds are slim to none. With luck like Joan Ginther, I’d be playing everyday. She recently picked up her fourth set of multi-million dollar winnings. The Corpus Christi Caller-Times in Texas gives details:
Joan R. Ginther, a native of Bishop who moved to Las Vegas, made her fourth appearance Monday at lottery headquarters in Austin to collect seven figures, lottery officials said.
Ginther, 63, won $10 million, the top prize in Texas Lottery’s $140,000,000 Extreme Payout scratch-off ticket, pushing her total wins to $20.4 million.
It was her third time to win on a ticket from a Bishop store, and second one at Times Market at 525 Highway 77 Bypass, in Bishop.
“This is a very lucky store,” said Bob Solis, store manager. The owner Sun Bae is the one with the lucky hand, Solis said. “Sun sold both the winning tickets…
Holy DARPA, Batman! Pentagon’s BaTMAN and RoBIN Projects Attempt to Master Biology
Who knew that reading comic books or watching the classic ’60s Batman TV show would lead to this? Katie Drummond writes in WIRED’s Danger Room:
The Pentagon’s blue-sky research arm has outdone itself this time. Darpa’s got two new projects that are ambitious in scope, even by their standards. So maybe that explains why the agency opted to enlist some awesomely bad superhero acronyms to characterize the way-out endeavors.
At least, that’s the best explanation Danger Room can come up with. Because it’s tough to see a connection between the fundamental nature of time, biological design … and Gotham City’s Caped Crusader and Boy Wonder.
Leave it up to the prodigious acronym artists at the Pentagon — responsible for gems like RESURRECT, NIRVANA and DUDE — to go for it anyway. Darpa’s launching Biochronicity and Temporal Mechanisms Arising in Nature (BaTMAN), in an effort to better understand “the spatio-temporal universe,” and, from there, “transform…
EyePhone (iPhone Parody) “Mysteriously” Disappears From Online Clips of ‘Futurama’
The Wrath of Steve Jobs! Laura June writes on Endgadget:
Remember how awesome and clever Futurama was? Well, if you missed it, your chances to see it in its original form might be slowly dwindling. It seems that Comedy Central has wiped out the reference in the dialogue to the “EyePhone 2.0.”
So, while we don’t have any conspiracy theories brewing about what happened, it’s a pretty odd thing to scrub, and we figure there are two possibilities: either Comedy Central is trying to cover their on this one, or they got a late night email from … someone.
Who Stole King Tut’s Genitals?
A mystery that may never be solved … The genitals on the mummy of Egyptian king Tutankhamen were declared missing in 1968 but were later found buried in the sand. However, scientists now suggest that the genitals were “swapped” and the real thing is missing. No one has any idea where King Tut’s private parts are hidden, or in whose possession, or why … Perhaps they are haunting someone. From TIME:
After some digging, Marchant was able to confirm that the king’s genitalia was attached to the mummy during its first unwrapping in 1922, meaning the postmortem castration likely occurred in modern times. Interestingly, Tut’s penis was declared missing in 1968 until a CT scan discovered it hidden in the sand that surrounded the mummy. (Penises, Brains and Skulls: The Most Amazing Stolen Body Parts)
This evidence has lead some to believe that Tut’s penis was swapped sometime after his body was…
She-Males: Best Of Both Worlds?
The 'Shemale Whores' film series, an example of the term as used in sex work.
Disinfo.com editor’s note: This classic report by Russ Kick was originally published on this site on Feb. 10, 2001. Some external links may have changed.
One of the greatest things about sexuality is its anarchic nature. The more you learn about sexual practices, the more you see that sex simply refuses to be tamed, boxed-in, classified, or even understood.
To pick just one of many examples, consider the case of the so-called “she-males.”
“She-males” is one of the names given to men who appear to be women in all ways except one. They have breasts, usually small and perky but sometimes fairly large, apparently thanks to silicone implants. Their faces can have traces — sometimes large traces — of masculinity, but the most amazing ones look for all the world like beautiful women.
In fact, the best she-males — with…
Finland First Country To Make High-Speed Internet A Human Right
Finland has a passed a law requiring that major internet providers provide one-megabit internet connections for all households (at whatever price each household can afford, it seems). That said, 96% of the Finnish population already has consistent internet access…so the point of this law is more just to flaunt how great life in Finland is. BBC News writes:
From 1 July every Finn will have the right to access to a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection. Finland has vowed to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.
The Finnish deal means that from 1 July all telecommunications companies will be obliged to provide all residents with broadband lines that can run at a minimum 1Mbps speed.
Speaking to the BBC, Finland’s communication minister Suvi Linden explained the thinking behind the legislation: “We considered the role of the internet in Finns everyday life. Internet services are no longer just for entertainment.
“Finland has worked…
New Black Panthers: The Dumbest SOB’s On The Planet
From Riehl World View:
Priceless. There’s a black American president for the first time in history – and the new black panther party is ready to rumble with the Tea Party movement on the DC Mall in September. This dumb-ass couldn’t do a better job of marginalizing his group if he tried. Of course, Obama is trapped after having protected them with his DOJ. And a racial confrontation is the last thing Democrats want in September before the mid-terms.
This is so good for the GOP, the idiot must be a plant.
Plato’s Secret Musical Code Cracked
The works of Plato, the ancient classical Greek philosopher, appear to contain a hidden musical code, a British academic has claimed, reported in the Telegraph:
Researchers claimed they cracked “The Plato Code”, the long disputed secret messages hidden in some of Ancient World’s most influential and celebrated writings.
Dr Jay Kennedy, an historian and philosopher of science at the University of Manchester, found Plato used a regular pattern of symbols to give his writing a “musical” structure.
In his five year study, Dr Kennedy found Plato, who died around 347BC, used the symbols inherited from the ancient followers of Pythagoras.
His findings, published in the American classics journal Apeiron, suggested Plato was not only a secret follower of Pythagoras but also shared his belief that the universe’s secrets lay maths and its numbers.
The study, which has created excitement in the academic world, also suggests he anticipated the scientific revolution of Galileo and Sir Issac…
Sex Magick Revisited
Magic will work. The problem is when we try to explain ‘the how’ the conversation inevitably devolves into new-age idealism… and we’re too cool for that, right? Fortunately for us, Bill Hicks and TOOL puts it all on the line with a no-nonsense, detached and decidedly non-romanticized account for all paranormal phenomenon. As if we are listening to a newscast we are informed…
“All matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. We are all one Consciousness experiencing itself. Life is but a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves.”
If we accept this as reality, then magic is not only possible, but inevitable.
Now the goal of sex magic revisited is not mere wish-fullfillment. No. The goal of this technique brings us back to the reason magic allegedly works in the first place, that is; to close the illusionary gap of separation between all forms of Consciousness a.k.a. The Singularity.
To…
Approved Islamic Haircuts For Men
Photo: Reuters
Government mandated haircuts? Sheesh! Via Reuters:
Women in Iran must cover their hair in public to comply with Sharia law, and men, too, are expected to have modest haircuts — but what exactly does that entail?
A new set of hairstyles has gone on display aiming to guide barbers and their customers away from the temptations of decadent western coiffures.
“We don’t have a backward attitude. We are trying to present new hairstyles while preserving tradition and observing Iranian culture,” said Jaleh Khodayar, secretary of the Hijab (Islamic dress) and Chastity Festival where the approved haircuts will go on display.
“This is how we will fight back against the Western cultural invasion,” she said, according to the semi-official ILNA news agency.
Photographs of the new styles shown to the media include a variety of cuts for curly or straight hair. None are long, but several have elements of style, including long sideburns and, in…
31-Year-Old Woman Poses As 14-Year-Old Boy to Become 16-Year-Old Girl’s “Boyfriend”
Patricia Dye, 31
Lawrence Budd of the Dayton Daily News writes:
A Franklin woman pretended to be a 14-year-old boy named Matt Abrams to get close to a Springboro girl, authorities said.
Patricia Dye, 31, of Franklin, remained in the Warren County Jail on Tuesday, July 6, charged with unlawful sexual conduct with and corruption of a 16-year-old Springboro girl in late May at the girl’s home. Dye, who used the alias Matt Abrams, is 4 feet 11 inches tall, smaller than the 5-foot-5 victim, according to police reports.
“They were boyfriend-girlfriend,” Sgt. Bob Marchiny said. “(Dye) looks just like a boy.” Police began investigating Dye after the girl ran away from a hotel where they had been living together for three days in June. The girl did not realize Dye was a woman, Marchiny said.
“We realized the person she was with wasn’t who we thought she was,” Marchiny said. Dye, arrested on June 30…
Can Marijuanaman Save The World?
This is definitely in the “you can’t make this shit up” category, reported by Caleb Goellner for Comics Alliance:
Yep. Marijuanaman. Reggae star Ziggy Marley, son of Bob Marley, is part of a joint effort with co-writer Joe Casey and artist Jim Mahfood to produce a pot-powered superhero coming to stores on – you guessed it – April 20 of 2011. What’s more, Ziggy’s coming to San Diego Comic-Con International for a special poster smoking signing.
Image’s smokin’ official synopsis chronicles the upcoming adventure:
Ziggy’s new superhero, Marijuanaman, is from a planet that is in desperate need of THC. Marijuanaman seeks to save Earth’s marijuana fields from destruction by the drug company PharmeXon, and thus saving his home planet from destruction.To be blunt, Image’s hullabaloo over a certain other celebrity comic left a less-than stellar taste in my mouth at last year’s Comic-Con. I just wasn’t really high on how things turned out. Judging from the involvement…
Climate Scientists in US Receive Death Threats
Leo Hickman of The Guardian covers the scientists’ reactions and police inaction:
The scientists say the threats have increased since the furore over leaked emails from the University of East Anglia began last November, and a sample of the hate mail sent in recent months and seen by the Guardian reveals the scale and vitriolic tone of the abuse.
The scientists revealed they have been told to “go gargle razor blades” and have been described as “Nazi climate murderers”. Some emails have been sent to them without any attempt by the sender to disguise their identity. Even though the scientists have received advice from the FBI, the local police say they are not able to act due to the near-total tolerance of “freedom of speech” in the US.
The problem appears less severe in the UK but, Professor Phil Jones, the UEA scientist at the centre of the hacked email controversy, revealed in February he…
Smiley Faces In The Sky Won’t Save Us
Photo: David Shankbone (CC)
Two days after a jobs report showed how many Americans are down, the nation was looking up — at fireworks signaling the anniversary of American independence (even as the BP disaster shows how dependent we’ve become.).
On July 4th, here in New York, my block was jammed with ooing and ahing onlookers as was the whole West Side of Manhattan when the Macy’s Department store shot off 40,000 shells at a rate of 1500 a minute and at a cost of $500,000.
It reminded me of deadlier fireworks over Baghdad.
This event, symbolically, may have been a shock and awe campaign of an economic war aimed our way, but we couldn’t see it.
Across the river in New Jersey, town after town canceled local shows because they had no money in the budget left for bread and circus extravaganzas.
Oh, how we love our country, reported the Daily News,
“Red, white and boom, boom, boom!
The…
How Did You Celebrate World UFO Day?
John Schwartz reminds us to look up occasionally, in the New York Times:
How did you celebrate World U.F.O. Day?
You didn’t?
Dang. Nobody seems to remember any more that July 2, 1947 was the day of the Roswell crash in the New Mexico desert (a spacecraft from another world, say some; a test balloon, says the government) that became the touchstone for those who believe aliens have come to Earth.
And they certainly don’t remember that World U.F.O. Day is celebrated by some on June 24, to commemorate the first widely reported U.F.O. sighting by Kenneth Arnold, a pilot who claimed to see what he would call “flying saucers” over Mount Rainier the same year.
From those days, our cultural love affair with little green men has gone through the stages of many passionate relationships — the fear and hopefulness of “The Day The Earth Stood Still” in 1951; the quirky cuddliness of Ray Walston…
A White God Freakout
Matt Taibbi for Rolling Stone:
Thanks to Jonathan Schwarz of TinyRevolution.com for passing along this hilarious exchange between Time reporter Alex Wilson and Julie Hollar of FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting). It’s one of the best case studies in the dangers of Google that I’ve ever seen.
The thing about Googling yourself — look, everyone’s done it. In the most literal sense, it’s like jacking off, and find me the grown man who’ll deny that he does that. But part of the growing up process is learning that playing with oneself, if not shameful and sordid exactly, it’s certainly something to be done at all times in private. Not even your average eight year-old will go charging bug-eyed into a room full of grownups frantically pulling on his Johnson. Time reporter Alex Wilson turns out to be a different story, however.
Background: last week, the press watchdogs at FAIR did a review of…
Flying Car Nears Consumer Availability After Gaining FAA Approval
Unfortunately, the price tag for a flying car, set to be sold by Terrafugia in 2011, is in the millions. The other bad news is that Bono will definitely have one, I just know it. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reports:
The Transition, which is being described as the world’s first flying car, transforms from a vehicle to a winged aircraft in 30 seconds.
US authorities have bent their rules for the aircraft, which could make it much more accessible for people without a pilot’s license.
Anna Dietrich, who works for the company building the Transition, explains how it works: “Once you’ve landed at the airport you can fold up the wings without having to get out of the cockpit,” she said.
“It takes about the same amount of time as putting down your convertible top. Once you’ve done that the power from the engine is directed to the wheels and you now have a street legal…
