"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." - H. P. Lovecraft

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YouTube - Solid Potato Salad - The Ross Sisters (1944) - "Never underestimate a woman who can get both legs behind her head and wrap her feet around her face. (HINT: Watch past the first 45 seconds or so. Whoah!)... In this classic footage from the movie "Broadway Rhythm" (1944), the Ross sisters, Aggie, Maggie and Elmira, sing and move in ways that don't look humanly possible. Yoga anyone?"

Row as Canada gives asylum to white South African - "Asylum seeker Brandon Huntley claimed he had been persecuted, abused and repeatedly stabbed. But it was the reason he gave for his ordeal that caused a diplomatic rift today. Huntley is South African – and white. Canada's decision to grant him refugee status because of his colour prompted accusations of racism from the South African government... Some South African whites say they have become a persecuted minority... He said he had been attacked seven times by black South Africans, including four stabbings, and was called a "white dog" and "settler"... the irrigation sprinkler salesman's evidence showed "a picture of indifference and inability or unwillingness" from the South African government to protect white citizens. He added: "Persecution of white South Africans by African South Africans [is] a common event today in South Africa."... "The truth is that black South Africans are far and away more likely to be victims of violent crime. There are problems with the criminal justice system but again blacks are most likely to suffer.""
Apparently alleging racism against traditionally powerful races is racist?! And somehow suffering from crime means you are being racially discriminated against and can't be racist towards others?!

Vows - Jessica Rosen and Ron Laegner - "WHEN Jessica Rosen was 12 years old, a boyishly handsome fellow, sharply dressed in a maroon suit, arrived in the lobby of her apartment building on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. That fellow, Ron Laegner, had just been hired as the doorman... In her diary that night, she stated her intentions. “I met the man I’m going to marry,” she wrote. Few people marry their first crush. Fewer still marry their doorman... “It was almost like a nuisance,” he said, referring to Ms. Rosen’s visits. She kept asking about his girlfriend and tried to lure him out to bars. Still, he couldn’t help but notice that the girl had matured into an attractive woman: “It was like a whole new Jessica.”... When her family found out, it didn’t go over so well — but Ms. Rosen said it was the 12-year age difference, not his line of work, that was a concern... “Everyone looked at me like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ ” said Ms. Rosen, now 30. “Life is short. I waited, and I got cancer.”"
This is pretty creepy on some level - just imagine the genders and ages reversed (i.e. an older man going after a younger girl - although waiting until she's legal).

How the Buddha became a Catholic Saint - "The Sakyamuni Buddha is in fact an official Catholic saint. The story of how the Buddha became a Catholic saint is a story about an ancient Indian diaspora. Not the diaspora of a group of people but that of a collection of south-east Asian stories: the Jataka tales... The story of Barlaam and Joasaph is that of a young Indian prince, Josaphat (or Joasaph), being converted to Christianity by the arguments of Barlaam. Josaphat's story (before his conversion) is almost exactly the story of the Sakyamuni Buddha. Indeed, “Josaphat” is nothing but a Greek-formulation of “Bodhisat.”... The Catholic Encyclopedia is resolutely unembarrassed about the whole incident. As I understand it, sainthood is a human assignation, based on our understanding of what constitutes a miracle. The Vatican claims authority, not infallibility."
Ooh, seditious!

The myth of a moderate Malaysia - "Amidst the usual cries of “Allahu Akbar” and “takbeer,” the protesters deposited the freshly severed head of a cow — an animal sacred to Hindus — before the building’s gate. The group’s leaders made threatening speeches and, perhaps caught up in the spirit of the moment, hammed it up for the cameras, stepping and spitting on the cow’s head. The police — who have been known to arrest people for such crimes as attending a candle light vigil or wearing black in support of the opposition — stood by and watched... The conversion laws, based on sharia, bring to mind the Eagles’ classic “Hotel California”: You can check in (to Islam) any time you like, but you can never leave. Over the past 30 years, encouraged by the government and influenced by the Middle East, Malaysia’s growing prosperity has gone hand-in-hand with a heightened piety. But instead of making the country more humane, this has had the opposite effect... only in Muslim-majority lands are religious bigots given such broad leeway by their secular co-religionists"

YouTube - [Trailer] Robogeisha

Eating dirt can be good for you - just ask babies - "Since all instinctive behaviors have an evolutionary advantage or they would not have been retained for millions of years, chances are that this one too has helped us survive as a species. And, indeed, accumulating evidence strongly suggests that eating dirt is good for you. In studies of what is called the hygiene hypothesis, researchers are concluding that organisms like the millions of bacteria, viruses and especially worms that enter the body along with "dirt" spur the development of a healthy immune system. Several continuing studies suggest that worms may help to redirect an immune system that has gone awry and resulted in autoimmune disorders, allergies and asthma."