***
Freedom, OS X Networking Freedom Software - "Freedom is an application that disables wireless and ethernet networking on an Apple computer for up to three hours at a time. Freedom will free you from the distractions of the internet, allowing you time to code, write, or create. At the end of your selected offline period, Freedom re-enables your network, restoring everything as normal."
Charles in GM 'disaster' warning - "Instead of experimenting with such crops, the country should offer more support to local farmers, he added... Prince Charles told the paper huge multi-national corporations involved in developing genetically modified foods were conducting a "gigantic experiment with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong". Relying on "gigantic corporations" for food would end in "absolute disaster", he warned. "That would be the absolute destruction of everything... and the classic way of ensuring there is no food in the future." What should be being debated was "food security not food production", he said. He said GM developers might think they would be successful by having "one form of clever genetic engineering after another", but he believed "that will be guaranteed to cause the biggest disaster environmentally of all time". "
This is why the Monarchy is Constitutional.
Sign Fail « FAIL Blog - "Best power wheelchairs on the market... Walk in today"
Protests still unwelcome in Beijing - "Just before the Olympic Games began, officials said ordinary Chinese people would be able to apply for permission to vent their feelings. But several would-be demonstrators appear to have been detained by the authorities after trying to apply for that permission... This application process is a taxing one. Would-be protesters even have to tell police what posters and slogans they intend to use... Potential protesters might have been put off by the police car and van parked directly outside the main entrance of the park"
Council ban on atheist websites - "The rules also ban sites that promote witchcraft, the paranormal, sexual deviancy and criminal activity... The authority's Bluecoat WebFilter computer system allows staff to look at websites relating to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and other religions but blocks sites to do with "witchcraft or Satanism" and "occult practices, atheistic views, voodoo rituals or any other form of mysticism". Under the Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003, it is unlawful to discriminate against workers because of their religion or belief, which includes atheism. "
Severe Islamic law which banned 'suggestive' cucumbers cost Al Qaeda public support in Iraq - "A bizarre ruling banning women from buying suggestively shaped vegetables such as cucumbers, and the brutal slaying of children, lost Al Qaeda the support of the Iraqi population, it emerged yesterday... Life under Al Qaeda was not only violent but also farcical. 'They even killed female goats because their private parts were not covered and their tales were pointed upward,' Hayyes said. 'They regarded the cucumber as male and tomato as female. Women were not allowed to buy cucumbers, only men.'... "The self-described protectors of the Sunni community now kill more Iraqi Sunnis than anyone else.""
Could men buy tomatoes?
International Bar Association - "The International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) would like to correct some inaccurate comments made in the opinion piece Singapore has an Independent Judiciary (Wall Street Journal, 23 July 2008) by Ms S. Radha, Press Secretary to the Minister for Law, Singapore... Ms Radha asserts that the IBAHRI’s report, Prosperity versus individual rights: Human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Singapore, contains "baseless" and 'vague' allegations about lack of impartiality and independence in the court’s consideration of defamation suits; and "errors of fact" about Supreme Court judges. However, as readers may see for themselves by accessing the report on our website, the observations made are based on comprehensive examples and evidence, and the 'errors of fact' she quotes are in fact misstatements of what the report actually says."
India debates 'racist' skin cream ads - "A recent row over a television advertisement for a skin-lightening cream has fuelled a debate in India over why fairer skin should be considered more beautiful... "It's a highly racist campaign," Brinda Karat, general secretary of the All India Democratic Women's Association, told BBC World Service's Everywoman programme. "It equates fairness with beauty."... "This advertisement, we believe, is demeaning to women and it should be off the air.""
The logic seems to be: a product that helps you acquire characteristics of a race deemed to be superior is racist. I would raise the example of education or religion, but those are mutable, so what about nose jobs, weight loss clinics (some ethnicities put on weight more easily than others) and boob jobs? The equation of fair skin with beauty is a centuries-old tradition in India. You can say this proves racism is centuries old in India, but worldwide, fair skin seen as desirable for women. Doubtless some would say this proves that racism is worldwide but perhaps it just points to fair skin being desirable in and of itself, not as a signifier of race
Study Suggests Difference Between Female And Male Sexuality - "Gay men overwhelmingly become sexually aroused by images of men and heterosexual men by images of women. In other words, men's sexual arousal patterns seem obvious. But a new Northwestern University study boosts the relatively limited research on women's sexuality with a surprisingly different finding regarding women's sexual arousal. In contrast to men, both heterosexual and lesbian women tend to become sexually aroused by both male and female erotica, and, thus, have a bisexual arousal pattern... "Since most women seem capable of sexual arousal to both sexes, why do they choose one or the other?" Bailey asked. "Probably for reasons other than sexual arousal."... "The fact that women's sexual arousal patterns are not all predicted by their sexual orientations suggests that men's and women's minds and brains are very different," Bailey said... [With] postoperative transsexuals who began life as men but had surgery to construct artificial vaginas... Their psychological and genital arousal patterns matched those of men -- those who like men were more aroused by male stimuli and those who like women were more aroused by the female stimuli -- even though their genital arousal was measured in the same way women's was."
More evidence for the theory that all women are bicurious
Bisexuality Not A Transitional Phase Among Women, According To New Research - "Bisexuality in women appears to be a distinctive sexual orientation and not an experimental or transitional stage that some women adopt "on their way" to lesbianism, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association... "This provides further support for the notion that female sexuality is relatively fluid and that the distinction between lesbian and bisexual women is not a rigid one," Diamond wrote."
War of words over Ulster 'Uncyclopedia' - "In a mocked Belfast bid to host the 2016 Olympics it reads: "The Olympic flame will be ignited by a petrol bomb thrown by a native of the city (preferably from the Ardoyne area), wearing the traditional costume of shell suit, baseball cap and balaclava mask. It will burn for the duration of the games in an Ulsterbus hijacked and situated on the roof of the stadium." ... Sinn Fein's Conor Maskey, a councillor for Ardoyne, thinks people should be relaxed about the site. He said: "I wouldn't be massively over-sensitive about spoof websites. Political satire has a role to play in our future."... Commentator Newton Emerson, who penned the spoof Portadown News, said Ulster folk should learn to take a joke. He said an entry should be place on 'Uncyclopedia' referring to those calling for its removal. The entry should read: "People in Northern Ireland think they have a great sense of humour, but actually they don't," he said. "
Nice to see irony isn't dead everywhere.
C.I.A. Admits Government Lied About U.F.O. Sightings - "''Over half of all U.F.O. reports from the late 1950's through the 1960's were accounted for by manned reconnaissance flights'' over the United States, the C.I.A. study says. ''This led the Air Force to make misleading and deceptive statements to the public in order to allay public fears and to protect an extraordinarily sensitive national security project.''... There are two schools of thought on the nature of such a cover-up. One, from Mr. Pike and other aerospace experts, holds that many sightings over the decades involved secret Federal projects featuring advanced aircraft and reconnaissance missions. The new admission strengthens that view."
YouTube - the Most Impressive TV Commercial in China - "Heng Yuan Xiang is a famous cashmere manufacturer in China. It is also the inventor of "repeat three times" ad strategy in China. Usually ads of this company are very simple, comprised of only one slogan repeated 3 times, which is " Heng Yuan Xiang, Yang Yang Yang", directly tranlated as "Heng Yuan Xiang，Sheep Sheep Sheep". And this slogan has never changed since 2001. But this time, the company wants to play big because the Beijing Olympic is quite near. thus this unprecedented ad is born. In this ad, the advertiser combines sheep with 11 other animals, which are known as 12 Chinese Zodiacs, and fills them into the slogan, has the slogan repeated 12 times for 1 minute!Totally over the top!"
I didn't know there were countries with worse commercials than Malaysia.
New military honour for penguin - "Edinburgh Zoo penguin Nils Olav has been an honorary member and mascot of the Norwegian King's Guard since the 1980s. Over the years, he has been promoted through the ranks and is currently the regiment's Colonel-in-Chief. He is set to receive a further honour from the army, which has not yet been revealed, on Friday."
Extinct - Weird News Story rchive - "Ted Giannoulas, better known as “The Famous San Diego Chicken”, has a special feature in his act where he beats up a “Barney” look-alike. The Lyons Partnership, which owns the Barney purple dinosaur children’s TV show character, was not as amused as Giannoulas’s audiences. The company sued him in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas, charging copyright and trademark infringement, and demanded $100,000 for each of the slugfest performances. But U.S. District Judge John McBride ruled against Lyons, saying that the parody is protected by the First Amendment. Asked for comment, Giannoulas said, “To paraphrase my purple adversary, I think the judge’s decision is Super-Dee-Dooper’.”"
Area man mistakes Onion story for reality - "It's the stuff of webby fantasy and urban legend: a reader who takes an Onion story seriously. Last week, a speedy and vicious blogosphere watched its collective wet dream made real when "Pete," proprietor of antiabortion blog March Together for Life, posted "Murder Without Conscience," a furious excoriation of a 7-year-old fake column in the Onion titled "I'm Totally Psyched About This Abortion!"... Remarkably, this isn't the first time that an Onion parody has been treated as straight news. In 2002, China's Beijing Evening News reported that members of the United States Congress were threatening to move operations from Washington D.C. to Memphis, Tenn., because the shabbiness of the Capitol building created "problems attracting top talent." A Chinese reporter had picked up the story wholesale from the Onion and filed it as his own."
The story is hilarious: "I seriously cannot wait for all the hemorrhaging and the uterine contractions. This abortion is going to be so amazing. I'm definitely taking lots of pictures so I can remember every last detail of the whole experience for years to come and share my great memories with all of my friends, family and co-workers. What an easy decision this was!"
I must say that I could see a
The Straight Dope: How can the Chinese use computers, since their language contains so many characters? - "So, if you're Chinese, do you hate computers? On the contrary, you think they're great, because the alternative is to write out your damn language longhand. Although educated Chinese pride themselves on their calligraphy, the process does not lend itself to speedy communication, since one Chinese character can have as many as 36 strokes. (Max per English character: four.) You could try a Chinese typewriter, but they're clunky and expensive. A computer with decent Chinese word processing software, in contrast, lets you achieve a reasonable approximation of touch typing, assuming you use the same program long enough. (Every program is different, needless to say.)"
