Archive for February, 2011
What The Bible Really Says About Sex
Could this “sex and the Bible” story by Lisa Miller be a taste of what the new Daily Beast-ly version of Newsweek will become? Maybe they read the leaked AOL business plan that requires all stories to be SEO-optimized, meaning lots of “content” featuring sex, God and scandal…
The poem describes two young lovers aching with desire. The obsession is mutual, carnal, complete. The man lingers over his lover’s eyes and hair, on her teeth, lips, temples, neck, and breasts, until he arrives at “the mount of myrrh.” He rhapsodizes. “All of you is beautiful, my love,” he says. “There is no flaw in you.”
The girl returns his lust with lust. “My lover thrust his hand through the hole,” she says, “and my insides groaned because of him.”
This ode to sexual consummation can be found in—of all places—the Bible. It is the Song of Solomon, a poem whose origins likely reach back to…
‘Slackistan,’ Pakistan’s First Slacker Film
Yahoo News reports:
In a country scarred by Taliban attacks and hobbled by political bickering, film director Hammad Khan found himself riveted by a creature so out of touch with reality that it almost inspires jealousy: the Pakistani slacker.
He found such youth roaming the Pakistani capital’s tree-lined boulevards in tight jeans, sipping lattes at Western-themed coffee shops and partying underground — with plenty of liquor to boot. They had no story, really. So Khan had to tell it.
The result is “Slackistan,” Pakistan’s first slacker film.
The movie shows a side of this South Asian nation rarely seen in the West, where media typically tie it to terror and Islamist fundamentalism. But in Pakistan, censors unhappy with some of the slacker portrayals have demanded so many changes that the film may not get released here.
“Things have gone from bad to worse in Pakistan. You look at these kids and wonder, ‘Does anything affect them?’”…
Aussie Center For The Mind Invents Functioning Thinking Cap
Professor Allan Snyder with his thinking cap. Photo: AFP
I can think of some kids who would happily trade in their dunce caps for one of these, even if the thinking cap’s inventor says it’s not intended for homework help! AFP reports from Sydney:
Scientists in Australia say they are encouraged by initial results of a revolutionary “thinking cap” that aims to promote creativity by passing low levels of electricity through the brain.
The device, which consists of two conductors fastened to the head by a rubber strap, significantly boosted results in a simple arithmetic test, they said.
Three times as many people who wore the “thinking cap” were able to complete the test, compared to those who did not use the equipment. Sixty people took part in total.Allan Snyder, director of the University of Sydney’s Centre for the Mind, said the device worked by suppressing the left side of the brain, associated with knowledge,…
Fresh Angles On John Dee’s Angels
The good people at Destiny Books/Inner Traditions recently sent on a new volume that finds some of magic’s most mysterious writings collected in one book for the very first time. With Decoding the Enochian Secrets: God’s Most Holy Book to Mankind as Received by Dr. John Dee from Angelic Messengers, author John DeSalvo, Ph.D. offers up the complete writings and Tables of Enoch that Dee and Edward Kelley received from the angels.
If you’re already confused, this book isn’t for you. This is not a biography of John Dee or an in-depth examination of the events that found the 16th-century mathematician, scientist, occultist, and the astrologer of Queen Elizabeth I seemingly contacting angels and receiving what may be the most important divinely-channeled communication of all time. If you are interested in finding out more about Enochian Magic, start with Benjamin Woolley’s excellent tome The Queen’s Conjurer: The Science and Magic of Dr. John…
UK Muslim Pupils Reportedly Being Taught Anti-Semitism, Sharia Law
Photo: David Shankbone (CC)
The Telegraph reports:
Muslim children are being taught how to chop off thieves’ hands and that Jews are plotting to take over the world at a network of Islamic schools, it has been disclosed.
Up to 5,000 pupils attending weekend schools across Britain are being exposed to textbooks claiming that some Jews were transformed into pigs and apes, and that some offences could be punished with stoning. One book for six year-olds warns that those who do not believe in Islam will be condemned to “hellfire” in death.
Another text for 15 year-olds teaches that thieves who break Sharia law should have their hands cut off for a first offence and their feet amputated for a subsequent crime. Teenagers are presented with diagrams showing where the cuts should be made.
Tonight’s Panorama on BBC One will claim that the books were discovered at a network of 40 private schools teaching the Saudi…
U.S. Feral Pig Problem Spreading
Please spare me your police jokes … Fox News reports:
War is being waged right now across the country — against huge, ever-growing packs of feral pigs that are running rampant, destroying crops, killing wildlife and spreading disease everywhere they go, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.
They’ve been spotted all the way from Texas to California to Michigan and in New York.
“It’s estimated there are at least 4 million of them nationwide, but its impossible to count them all so there may be much more” said Carol Bannerman, a spokesman for the USDA Wildlife Services.
Officials say they cause more than $8 million worth of damage every year. “That amount doesn’t include impact to the natural environment and native species, or to water” Bannerman said. One disease humans can get, she said, by coming in contact with the beasts bodily fluids is called “swine brucellosis,” and is extremely painful.
Historians think the hogs were…
The United States Of Shame
The magical thing about the United States is that our nation is a rich tapestry — of gonorrhea cases and bankruptcy, that is. Find out what surprising, ignominious category your home state leads the country in. Who would have guessed that Mormon Utah is porn-crazy? Concocted by Pleated-Jeans:
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U.S. Taxpayers Paid $450,000 For Navy Jets To Fly Over A Closed Stadium Roof Before the Super Bowl
Photo: Bigcats lair (CC)
No biggie for the attendees, since this stadium has the largest HDTV screen in the world. Sally Jenkins writes in the Washington Post:
Everything you need to know about the future of the NFL could be seen in the gloriously decadent stadium that hosted this Super Bowl. As NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell pointed out, “Quite frankly, that’s our stage.” It was the cleanest, safest, nicest stadium anyone has ever visited. It was also the most extravagant and economically stratified. It cost double what Jerry Jones said it would, and taxpayers financed about a quarter of it, yet its innermost marble interiors are totally inaccessible to the average fan.
A tipping point was reached with this Super Bowl, for me. It was the screwed-over anger of those 1,250 people without seats that did it. Those travel-weary, cash-whipped fans paid small fortunes to go to the game, only to discover their…
Clinic Mistake Exposes Patients To HIV and Hepatitis
Photo: Andrew Magill (CC)
It’s difficult to hear your doctor say you have cancer. It’s even more difficult to hear how his nurse used the same needle for 2 months before using it to take your blood. Sky News reports:
More than 50 cancer patients will have to wait an agonising three months to find out whether they have been infected with HIV, after a NSW clinic used one needle on patients for two months.
The bungle occurred when a newly employed nurse mistakenly believed the Accu-Chek Multiclix, a device used to check blood sugar levels, automatically changed needles.
Dr. Michael Jones, chairman of the private radiology company PRP Diagnostic Imaging which runs the Gosford clinic, said the nurse didn’t realise she had to change the needle manually for each new patient.
Instead, the needle was left unchanged between November 28 and January 28, and used on 53 patients and two staff members.
The patients had visited…
New Zealand’s Lost ‘Eighth Wonder Of The World’ Found Deep Underwater
Kiwi scientists have discovered portions of the Pink and White Terraces, a natural wonder which was ravaged by a 19th century volcanic blast. Sadly, the remnants are buried at the bottom of a lake, meaning they will remain hidden away from the eyes of humans. Science Daily reveals:
They were called the Eighth Wonder of the World. Until the late 19th century, New Zealand’s Pink and White Terraces along Lake Rotomahana on the North Island, attracted tourists from around the world, interested in seeing the beautiful natural formations created by a large geothermal system. But the eruption of Mt. Tarawera on June 10, 1886, buried the terraces in sediment and caused the lake basin to enlarge, engulfing the land where the terraces stood. For more than a century, people have speculated whether any part of the Pink and White Terraces survived the eruption.
This week, scientists from New Zealand’s GNS Science, in collaboration…
Disneyland Paris Worker Attempts In-Park Suicide
UPI.com reports:
A worker at Disneyland Paris allegedly tried to kill himself by jumping off a bridge at the theme park, saying he blamed his manager for his actions.
The man, identified only as “C,” stood atop a 33-foot bridge along the route of the park’s scale railroad threatening to jump Thursday while concurrently demanding to see Disneyland’s management, Radio France Internationale reported Friday.
Le Parisien reported two members of the park’s management talked the man into coming down, which he did, witnesses said, with tears in his eyes and blaming his manager for his actions.
Disneyland management said the man was the representative of a small trade union and was working half time because of “problems encountered at work.”
Radio France Internationale reported three Disneyland Paris workers killed themselves last year.
South African Thieves Steal Traffic Light SIM Cards To Make Free, Untraceable Calls
An impressive slice of outlaw ingenuity: criminals have discovered that SIM cards used in high-tech traffic lights can be harvested and used in mobile phones to make free, untraceable, unlimited calls. Via the Guardian:
Hundreds of lights have been damaged by thieves targeting the machines’ SIM cards, which are then used to make mobile phone calls worth millions of South African rand.
More than two-thirds of 600 hi-tech lights have been affected over the past two months, according to the Johannesburg Roads Agency, causing traffic jams, accidents and frustration for motorists.
The traffic lights use sim cards, modem and use GPRS to send and receive information, a system intended to save time and manpower by alerting the road agency’s head office when any lights malfunction. According to Thulani Makhubela, a spokesman for the agency, the robberies have been “systematic and co-ordinated”, possibly by a syndicate. An internal investigation has now been launched.
China Produces “Rice” Made From Plastic
Raw Story reports:
China’s history with food safety is a rocky one, but even in the annals of robbery and abuse, this will go down in infamy.
Various reports in Singapore media have said that Chinese companies are mass producing fake rice made, in part, out of plastic, according to one online publication Very Vietnam.
The “rice” is made by mixing potatoes, sweet potatoes and plastic. The potatoes are first formed into the shape of rice grains. Industrial synthetic resins are then added to the mix. The rice reportedly stays hard even after being cooked.
The Korean-language Weekly Hong Kong reported that the fake rice is being sold in the Chinese town of Taiyuan, in Shaanxi province.
Democrats Vote Against Patriot Act Extentions, Then Bash Republicans Over Their Defeat
Check out these two news reports. Hypocrisy, politics, or both?
Simmi Aujla reports in the Politico:
Top House Democrats pounced on Republicans’ mishandling of a routine vote Tuesday evening, which caused a bill to extend provisions of the Patriot Act go down in defeat.
The Democrats said Wednesday morning that the failed vote is a sign that Republican leaders aren’t prepared to handle the practical difficulties of governing.
“I don’t think they’ve found their center yet,” Democratic Caucus conference chair Rep. John Larson (D-Conn.) said. “It seems they’re coming apart at the seams.”
Rank-and-file Republicans threw off Republican leaders’ plans for the measure, which was expected to pass easily, when a large enough number bucked their party and voted no. The measure fell short of the two-thirds vote it needed by 13 votes.
But Greg Sargent reports in the Washington Post:
Yesterday, a vote on reauthorizing three expiring provisions of the Patriot Act failed after most Democrats…
Robots May Get Their Own Internet
Photo: Lorenzo Natale (CC)
Is this the beginning of machines relying on machines? BBC News reports:
Robots could soon have an equivalent of the internet and Wikipedia.
European scientists have embarked on a project to let robots share and store what they discover about the world.
Called RoboEarth it will be a place that robots can upload data to when they master a task, and ask for help in carrying out new ones.
Researchers behind it hope it will allow robots to come into service more quickly, armed with a growing library of knowledge about their human masters.
The idea behind RoboEarth is to develop methods that help robots encode, exchange and re-use knowledge, said RoboEarth researcher Dr Markus Waibel from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.
“Most current robots see the world their own way and there’s very little standardisation going on,” he said. Most researchers using robots typically develop their own way for that…
Sarah, Bristol Palin Seek To Trademark Names
Via Fox News:
Sarah Palin is attempting to trademark her name ahead of a possible 2012 presidential run.
The former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate filed paperwork with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in November to register the trademark.
The federal office is seeking more information and examples of usage. The office is also seeking additional details for the application submitted in September by Palin’s daughter, Bristol, a contestant on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” last year.
Palin’s attorney, John J. Tiemessen, said Friday that he has six months to provide the information. “We are preparing to respond to all their questions for both,” he told The Associated Press by telephone from his office in Fairbanks. He said he couldn’t disclose the reasons why both applied for trademarks because of attorney-client privilege.
But Seattle lawyer Marshall J. Nelson, with the firm Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, says it’s not that unusual for…
Oh Cupcake, Where Art Thou?: The Search for America’s Next Sweetheart
Lindsay Lohan in 2002. Photo: RadioKirk (CC)
The U.S. spiraled into decades of romantic uncertainty and self-loathing after the heartbreak of Mary Pickford losing a leg to gangrene following a vicious tavern brawl in 1929. Where will we find America’s Little Cupcake for the 21st century?
Well, 2011 certainly is shaping up to be quite the year for Wisconsinites. Douchebag Senator Paul Ryan not only escaped the noose for his role in engineering the AIG bailouts in the mid-terms, but also became the budget committee chief this January. Newly elected RNC chair and former ethical giant Racid Priebus, a Kenosha native, began in earnest his party’s campaign to contest the health care reform law that he himself claimed was unassailably constitutional. And of course, just this week, America’s Team, the Green Bay Packers took the crown in the fairly eventful Superbowl XLV.
Whew! Pretty heady stuff — but the ride’s not over yet. Valentine’s weekend is almost upon us, and as the United…
Saddam Hussein’s Attorney To Represent Charles Manson
CNN reports:
Prominent attorney Giovanni Di Stefano, who has represented former Iraq dictator Saddam Hussein and his right-hand man, “Chemical Ali,” or Ali Hassan al-Majid, is representing Charles Manson in his attempt for a new trial, Di Stefano told CNN.
Di Stefano has filed an application with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of Manson, he said. The petition says Manson didn’t receive a fair trial when he was convicted 40 years ago because, among other things, he was not allowed to represent himself, Di Stefano said.
The prosecutor in the Manson case, however, said Di Stefano’s claim has no merit.
Manson was assigned a public defender after the judge in his case became frustrated with Manson’s behavior while he was acting as his own attorney.
Di Stefano said that was a violation of Manson’s Sixth Amendment rights and is grounds for a new trial.
9/11 Commemorative Coin Challenged As “Scam”
Via Fox News:
A coin commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks is drawing the ire of consumers and politicians who have learned that the coin may be just a worthless trinket that has no affiliation with the U.S. government and does not benefit the 9/11 Memorial.
Katie Smith and John Shughart of Carlisle, Pa., thought they were buying a priceless piece of history. Now, the coin they bought may have not even a cent of value.
“I think it’s a complete rip-off,” says Smith. “It’s a scam.”
The couple called a 1-800 number and ordered a 9/11 Tenth Anniversary Commemorative Coin after seeing a commercial on TV. The commercial claims the coin has “sculptures of the USS New York and the World Trade Center towers, inset with jeweler precision on its obverse, each entirely clad in .999 pure silver actually recovered from beneath the ashes of ground zero.”
