Doggedly searching for the crux of the biscuit.
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A website dedicated to knuckle tattoos.
"I got my knuckles tattooed yesterday. I chose to dawn them with the term SHITFACE. Since I was 15 my best friend and I made up an alter ego for myself named Assy McShitface, it later became my stage name for the various bands that I’ve been in. I decided to make the name forever, and get the knuckles tattooed."
"There are several ironies at work in conservative criticism of Wright. The first is that I have never heard so many conservatives express concern for black children in my entire life. Unmoved by decrepit, segregated schools, their parents working two or three jobs without guarantee of health care, and dismissive of their abuse at the hand of law enforcement officials, they are suddenly terrified that the Obama children will grow up hating white people."
Three girls up for pork queen crown. With pictures!
Apropos of nothing, but still on the subject of pork...
The drained brains fall mainly on the plains.
"Daddy, where did I come from?"
"You'd better get comfortable, honey. This is going to take a while to explain."
A married man who used to be a woman says that he is pregnant and will give birth to a baby girl in July.
"How does it feel to be a pregnant man? Incredible," wrote Thomas Beatie, 34, from the Pacific North West of the United States, in the latest issue of the gay magazine The Advocate. Despite the fact that my belly is growing with a new life inside me, I am stable and confident being the man that I am."
This was the first place in the article I had to stop and ponder whether a quote, in fact, made any sense whatsoever.
He decided to carry a baby for his wife, Nancy, because she had a hysterectomy years ago. He was able to get pregnant because he kept his female organs when he switched genders. [...] The couple, who have been together for ten years, run a custom screenprinting business in Bend, Oregon, where neighbours do not know that Mr Beatie was once a woman.
They will now.
The couple bought donor vials from a cryogenic sperm bank and, facing resistance and prejudice from doctors, resorted to home insemination. "Doctors have discriminated against us, turning us away due to their religious beliefs. Healthcare professionals have refused to call me by a male pronoun or recognise Nancy as my wife. Receptionists have laughed at us. Friends and family have been unsupportive; most of Nancy's family doesn't even know I'm transgender," he said.
I predict Thanksgiving Day at Nancy's family's place is going to be filled with uncomfortable silences.
(hat tip to asl)
Damn but that was the most motivated 20 minutes of basketball I've seen in some time. As I explained to a friend recently: I love to see me some Duke lose almost as much as I love see me some Carolina win. Yes. I'm that shallow.
In tournament time there are no two more valuable advantages than (1) being in shape so as to not get tired, and (2) hitting your fucking free throws.
I went 30-2 in my bracket 1st round with 2 guaranteed misses for the second (Vandy over 'Nova and UConn over WKU... wtf?)
I love March.
Because Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is spinning faster than expected, there is likely a liquid ocean 50 or 60 miles below the surface, a team of scientists reported in Friday’s issue of the journal Science. Based on radar images taken on repeated passes by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, the scientists tracked motion on the surface and found the surface to be rotating slightly faster than expected. They believe seasonal winds in Titan’s atmosphere are pushing on the outer shell, causing it to spin faster. For the outer shell to spin independently, there must be a liquid ocean, probably made of water and ammonia, separating the shell from the inner part of Titan, the scientists reported.
But that teaser is all they say. There's a whole lot more detail at Science Daily and New Scientist, including this:
If Titan has an ocean beneath its surface, could life be present there? Possibly. Tobie says Titan may have provided especially good conditions for the development of life. Early in its history, liquid water may have been exposed to the surface, allowing complex carbon-containing molecules from the atmosphere to mix with the water.
"Organic [carbon-based] chemistry and warm water provide very good conditions for life to arise," Tobie says, although he adds that it might have been difficult for this life to survive after the ocean was cut off from the atmosphere by ice.
And if there's one thing Titan's got, it's hydrocarbons.
I haven't said anything about the Jeremiah Wright story mostly because it's stupid beyond belief. And I'll say two things that people in elective politics can't say:
1. Of course Christian preachers say crazy-ass things. They believe a guy walked on water and rose from the dead and, folks, that's just freaking bonkers. Sorry if that offends you, but it isn't any more plausible than the bizarro stuff that comes out of Scientology. That shit simply didn't happen, end of story. If you're willing to believe that, you'll be willing to believe all manner of other insane stuff so, frankly, I just don't pay much attention to anything coming out of a pulpit since my time is too valuable to waste on superstitious bullshit from a couple dozen centuries ago.
2. The two comments that are being replayed endlessly aren't crazy. They aren't even incorrect. America *is* a deeply racist country, and the wildly different responses to these comments versus those of John Hagee, Rod Parsley, Jerry Falwell, or Pat Robertson demonstrates it succinctly. Jeremiah Wright was impolitic, used inflammatory phrasing, and was certainly unhelpful to Obama's campaign, but he wasn't in any sense wrong. If you disagree with this point, all I can say is that you need to take off your blinders.
That said, I'm quite certain Barack Obama himself disagrees with what I've said above and I'm aware that I'm usually well outside the tiny spectrum that represents mainstream American political thought, especially as it concerns religion. However, Obama's speech today on Wright's comments and race generally is flat-out masterful. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Now, how about we spend the rest of the campaign focusing on something that actually matters?
Looks like if you want bacteria to work their hardest for you, they need healthy competition.
Scientists across the globe are looking for ways to make new antibiotics. Some projects involve melding existing drugs into potent new molecules, while other approaches focus on designing new drugs that target specific mechanisms of microbial resistance. But recent sequencing studies suggest that bacteria possess an untapped well of novel antibiotics that they don't produce under normal lab conditions, thereby remaining hidden to scientists for decades.
Scientists working in Anthony Sinskey's lab at MIT sequenced the genome of a strain of soil-dwelling bacteria known as Rhodococcus fascians. They were surprised to find that this organism, not known for its antibiotic-producing powers, harbored a number of genes involved in the metabolism of antibiotic-like compounds. (In the wild, bacteria produce antibiotics as a survival mechanism, to clear themselves a niche in the crowded microbial world.)
While Rhodococcus seemed genetically capable of producing the compounds, the organisms did not do so in the lab--until, that is, they were grown alongside another type of bacteria, called Streptomyces, which are among the most prolific antibiotic producers in the microbial world. Microbiologist Kazuhiko Kurosawa and his colleagues published their discovery last month in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.
The little fellows starting churning out a toxin that killed H. pylori, the bacteria that causes stomach ulcers. It isn't clear whether the new compound is appropriate for use in humans, but it contains "a novel structural component, which could provide a jumping-off point for chemists keen to design new drugs."
Previous sequencing research suggests that some strains have the genetic ability to produce 20 to 30 different antibiotics, but when grown on their own in comfortable lab conditions, they produce only two or three. "Where are the other 90 percent?" asks Fischbach. "I think [Kurosawa's] approach is the right way to explore this."
I'll bet nobody involved in former New Jersey governor James McGreevey's divorce is much enjoying themselves right about now.
A former aide to James E. McGreevey said today that he had three-way sexual trysts with the former governor and his wife before he took office, challenging Dina Matos McGreevey's assertion that she was naive about her husband's sexual exploits. The aide, Theodore Pedersen, said he and the couple even had a nickname for the weekly romps, from 1999 to 2001, that typically began with dinner at T.G.I. Friday's and ended with a threesome at McGreevey's condo in Woodbridge. They called them "Friday Night Specials," according to Pedersen.
Somehow, the saddest detail of that is that they began their swinging soirees at T.G.I. Friday's. I guess Red Lobster's just too crowded or something. And there's this:
Pedersen did not say if he was gay or bisexual and only described having contact with Matos McGreevey during the trysts. He also said he never knew for sure if McGreevey was gay.
"I had heard the rumors in circles outside of work," he said. "In hindsight, there might have been light interest (in me), but it didn't seem like he was gay. It did enhance their sexual relationship having me be a part of it."
Um, okay. Now, what part of all this cracks me up the most is a pretty tight competition but I think I'm going to have to go with the picture nj.com decided to pair with the story.
(via)
Left: All the water in the world (1.4087 billion cubic kilometres of it) including sea water, ice, lakes, rivers, ground water, clouds, etc. Right: All the air in the atmosphere (5140 trillion tonnes of it) gathered into a ball at sea-level density. Shown on the same scale as the Earth.
Via jwz.
After all the anonymous gay bathroom sex, a top dollar prostitution bust ($5500 an hour! Christ almighty!) seems downright quaint.
WOOO HEELS! 76-68 for the regular season title, and holding Duke scoreless for the last 5-1/2 minutes on their home floor might be the most impressive feat so far this year. Weird stat: the two teams combined for just 21 free throw attempts, and 22 blocked shots. On to the tournament!
Danny Green demonstrates the Carolina Teabag on Greg Paulus. (via)
Update: And another WOOO to the women's basketball team who closed out an undefeated conference regular season by winning the ACC tournament for a fourth straight year. And over Duke, for that little added extra something.
Via Blort, who also links to the top ten unhirable physically modified people, including the guy with the blue eye tattoos from a few days ago.
You think you're having a bad day?
It was bad enough when the Lebanon County woman crashed her sport-utility vehicle early this morning in Clay Township. But making matters worse, police said, when Melissa M. Herr, 37, of Kleinfeltersville, got out of her vehicle to look at the damage, she tumbled down a well.
Herr was eventually rescued and taken to Lancaster General Hospital, state police said. She was not seriously injured, troopers said, but sustained bruises to her back and arms. She also faces drunken driving charges, Trooper Paul E. Hardnock said.
Iraq is still violent and unsettled despite increased efforts by coalition forces, an Australian academic said following two deadly bomb blasts in a Baghdad shopping centre. Fifty-five people were killed and many others injured when two bombs exploded in a crowded shopping area. Al-Qaeda has been blamed for the deadly attacks which came on the day the US military revealed it was withdrawing 2,000 troops from the Iraqi capital.
Director of the Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy at the Australian National University (ANU) Professor William Maley said the situation was alarming.
"I think what bombings of this sort indicate is just how violent and unsettled a situation that in Iraq still is," he told ABC Radio. "I think it's important to appreciate this, given some of the gushy comments that have been made about achievements of the surge in the period since it was commenced by the United States."
There were 30,000 extra US soldiers sent to Iraq last year to stop sectarian violence between Sunni and Shi'ite Muslims that took the country to the brink of civil war. Prof Maley said violence in Iraq had dropped since the US increased its presence.
"The effect has been, looking at the country broadly, to reduce the frequency of bombings on the scale of the October 2002 Bali bombings from something like once every two-and-a-half days to once every six days," he said.
Via Wooster Collective, this is so very cool.
"Miss Palmen, a 44-year-old Dutch artist, uses a method that requires a huge amount of effort and attention to detail. She makes cotton suits and paints the camouflage on by hand, painstakingly matching it to the chosen background. Either she or a model then poses in the suit in the chosen place. The scenes are photographed and filmed and then put on display."
More at the link and at the artist's website.
For the second time in a month, North Carolina ran right by Duke and turned the rivalry into a rout. Cetera DeGraffenreid scored 14 points to help the second-ranked Tar Heels beat the No. 12 Blue Devils 82-51 on Sunday, securing the school's first unbeaten regular season in Atlantic Coast Conference play while handing Duke its worst loss in 15 years.
Erlana Larkins added 14 points and 10 rebounds in her final home game for the Tar Heels (27-2, 14-0 ACC), who had an easy time beating their rival for the seventh time in nine meetings. North Carolina has won 10 straight games and 18 of 19 overall, earning the league tournament's top seed for the third time in four seasons.
I'm considering this a preview of the mens' game this weekend. Go Heels!
The whole "Obama supporters are a cult" meme is annoying, since you can find this exact same behavior in any popular politician's following. Eespecially one who counts a lot of young people as supporters, since they just haven't had the chance to get all cynical and jaded like you and me. Believe me, they'll get there soon enough. However:
I am trying to hook us spiritually minded people together (from all traditions) and am looking for others to join in this event and spread the word.
I am proposing a prayer/meditation day on March 4 in which people are invited to spend from 10 minutes to 1 hour visualizing President Elect Barack Obama on inaugural day being sworn in as the next President of the United States of America. See him with Michelle by his side and their two beautiful daughters. Hear the crowd. See the flags. Imagine the jubilation around the world!
Each of us is invited to BE in the FEELING of joy and celebration of such a triumphant moment during the mediation/prayer time with confidence knowing it has already happened in our hearts and will happen. The LOVE in our hearts will spread to others as love knows no bounds.
And, my darlings, that marks the first place at which Tonstant Bwogger fwowed up. (h/t: Ari)
Two diseases enter the ring, only one comes out.
Now researchers at Yale University have found that a virus that's in the same family as rabies effectively kills an aggressive form of human brain cancer in mice. Using time-lapse laser imaging, the team watched vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) rapidly home in on brain tumors, selectively killing cancerous cells in its path, while leaving healthy tissue intact. What's more, Anthony Van den Pol, lead researcher and professor of neurosurgery and neurobiology at Yale, says that VSV is able to self-replicate and produce secondary lines of defense.
It sorta reminds me of maggot therapy to clean necrotic flesh. Anyhow, the results are promising, but:
There are several considerations that the team will have to face before moving to clinical trials. In its tests, the team observed live scans of the virus over a few days before sacrificing the animals for closer study. It remains to be seen how the virus will act on the brain over a longer timescale.
Additionally, the researchers used immuno-compromised mice. While these mice are still able to produce interferon as a local cellular defense, they have a weakened systemic immune system--one that's unable to produce B and T cells that would otherwise destroy viruses. Van den Pol explains that such a weakened system allowed the team to insert transplanted human tumors in mice without their being rejected. However, in order to test the virus as an effective therapy, the team will have to make sure that a normal immune system doesn't stamp out the virus before it has a chance to act on tumors.
Still, fascinating.
Genital piercing? Sure, if you're a coward. Real men get their eyes tattooed.
For body-art enthusiasts have developed a new technique that gives a whole new meaning to beauty being in the eye of the beholder. What is thought to be the first ever "eyeball tattoo" has been inflicted on a man in Toronto - good news, perhaps, for anyone who ever dreamed of having blue eyes.
The tattooer injected ink into the eyeball of volunteer Pauly Unstoppable using a needle, until his eye was completely blue. Just in case you weren't yet feeling squeamish enough, bear in mind that it took more than 40 tries before the eye was filled with ink. The blue substance used was mixed with antibiotic eyewash.
The experiment was carried out for Canadian company ModProm, with those taking part insisting that Pauly would not go blind.
Oh yes, of course there's a picture.
Update: More pictures of Mr. Unstoppable.
