"She had hands as big as Andre the Giant's, and she had an Adam's apple as big as her balls."

More fun from the People's Republic...

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Athletes representing China's 55 ethnic minorities assembled in southwestern Yunnan province last week to compete in blow-pipe darts, horse-riding events and other traditional sports. But blind pursuit of victory lead to some unorthodox tactics, Xinhua news agency reported

Results of the women's dragon-boat racing event were reviewed after athletes complained of "big women with Adam's apples," Xinhua said. Referees subsequently found that several of the competitors were actually men wearing wigs.

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Well, you can't blame a girl for trying. I think they might have a better chance in this competition, anyway.

Ethnic games tainted by cross-dressing cheats [Yahoo! News]

Hi Everybody.

This is my first post on Dazzling Knowledge.

Hey. What's up. Yeah? That's cool. Hmm? No, I'm fine I guess.

I wish I could have written this post in a better mood. Unfortunately, thanks to T.O.'s publicist, I just did the math and realized this morning that there are twenty-four million, nine hundred and forty-five thousand reasons for me not to live. That'll put a kind of damper on the start of anyone's day.

I'll try again later when I should be in a better mood, I promise.

Engrish

Engrish is the phenomenon of oddly phrased English language expressions found in Japan and other Asian countries. In China, it's called Chinglish.

Ridiculous Signs

Beware!

Cool Card Tricks!

World's best card trick.
Disappearing cards.

Stan Lee Presents: Watchmen

Check it out (props to Isegoria).

Your vagina is almost as beautiful as your penis

Here are some of my favorite excerpts from an article about hermaphroditic animals.

"Many snails, slugs, and worms are so-called internally fertilizing, simultaneous hermaphrodites. In any encounter, such creatures can deliver sperm, receive it for fertilizing eggs internally, or do both.
...
When two of these small, speckled sea worms meet to mate, there's no taking turns. Each worm, 2 to 6 centimeters long, wields its pair of side-by-side penises like a weapon. One worm tries to fertilize the other by ejaculating anywhere on its partner's body, splashing it with sperm in a cocktail that dissolves flesh. After the brew eats a hole through the skin, the sperm work their way through various tissues until they reach the eggs.
...
The holes and wrinkly streaks on many worms' bodies are ejaculate burns, says Michiels.
...
And in many other simultaneous hermaphrodites, if one partner deposited sperm into the other's reproductive tract, elaborate plumbing would divert a sizable portion of the sperm to digestive organs, presumably as a snack for the recipient.
...
Some of the mating habits of simultaneous hermaphrodites can be difficult for humans to understand. For that reason, the University of California, Santa Cruz doesn't emphasize that its athletic teams' mascot, a hermaphroditic banana slug, has been reported to practice apophally, or penis biting."

Enjoy the article, and I dare you to find use for the word, "apophally," at a party.

Tough to argue with that logic

"Anyone who describes Islam as a religion as intolerant encourages violence," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.

I don't think you even need to read the article.

Best George Will article I've read in a while.

Big (Government) Oil

Swipes at "Big Oil" are normally implied swipes at free markets. This Economist article looked at "Big Oil" and found that the 13 largest oil companies, owning ~90% of the world's reserves, are state-owned.
Hat tip: The Agitator

Cleanliness and Godliness--It's True

By Constance Holden

ScienceNOW Daily News
7 September 2006

Lady Macbeth was expressing a deep psychological profound truth when she frantically sought to get imaginary blood off her hands after plotting the murder of the king, Duncan. Clean hands actually do make people feel less guilty, researchers report in tomorrow's issue of Science.
Physical and moral cleanliness have always been closely associated, both in religious practices and in people's minds, as revealed by the words they use--such as "pure" applied either to body or spirit. Chen-bo Zhong, who teaches organizational behavior at the University of Toronto, and management researcher Katie Liljenquist of Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, sought to explore the depth of this association. First they asked 30 undergraduates to summon up how they felt from performing an ethical act, such as helping a sick friend, while 30 others were asked to recall an unethical deed, like shoplifting.. All then did took a word completion test.
Those who recalled doing something bad were more likely to fill in a word such as W _ _ H with a cleansing-related word ("wash" rather than "wish"). Similarly, when subjects were offered a choice between an antiseptic wipe and a pencil as a gift, two-thirds of those who recalled the unethical deed took the wipe--twice as many as those who recalled the ethical deed.
Whereas these experiments showed that the association between cleanliness and morality has deep roots, another exercise showed that the two concepts lie so close together as to be almost interchangeable. In this study, 45 participants described an unethical deed from their past. Afterward, 22 were given an antiseptic wipe to clean their hands. All were then asked if they would volunteer for another study to help out a desperate graduate student. Those who felt clean apparently felt less need to expiate for their sins: only 41% agreed to help, compared to 74% who had not wiped their hands.
Psychologist Philip Tetlock of the University of California, Berkeley, says the study is so "clever" he wishes he'd done it himself. It shows that "there is a deep psychological connection between morality and physical cleanliness," he says. "Indeed, our thinking about moral purity appears in some respects to be a metaphorical extension of our deep-rooted aversion to filth and contamination."

I suggest you have some more washing to do.

When live gives you Ayds, make lemonayds.

I remember a diet aid/candy called Ayds disappeared from shelves in the early 80's. With testimonials like this, I wonder why. I wonder why.

Crowds Panic as Flood Threatens Ireland

We've all seen the faces of those ravaged by the floods of Sri Lanka and New Orleans. This award-winning photograph of the recent flood waters rising in Ireland captures the horror and suffering of the victims. Many of us are of Irish descent so this strikes really close to our hearts. Please keep these poor wretches in your thoughts and prayers as they suffer untold hardships while gallantly trying to maintain a semblance of their normal way of life......

This will be my excuse from now on.

I'm not ignoring you; I'm thinking


Gazing into the middle distance improves your concentration.


Lucy Heady


Teachers everywhere can be heard shouting "look at me when I'm talking to you". But research presented today at the British Association's Festival of Science in Norwich, UK, suggests that they should be doing exactly the opposite.

When posed with a conundrum, it is normal for adults and older children to look away, staring in an unfocused way out of the window or at a patch of the carpet. This aimless gaze isn't necessarily thanks to an attitude of indifference or indolence, but instead might be helping the brain to concentrate.

Researchers at the University of Stirling in Scotland took a group of 25 five-year-olds and trained them to look away when they were being asked a question. The effect was a significant increase in correct answers to mental arithmetic questions, says Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon, who led the research. She declined to give details as the work is in press with the British Journal of Developmental Psychology.


Whole thing here.

This should interest you low-carb types

High-protein diet reduces appetite
Eggs, meat and cheese trigger a protein that makes us eat less.


Eating a high-protein diet can boost the release of a hunger-suppressing hormone, according to new study on mice. The research suggests that a diet rich in protein may be a good way to lose weight and keep it off.

Mice fed a protein-heavy diet produced higher levels of an appetite-regulating protein called peptide YY (PYY), which has been linked to reduced appetite in human studies. What's more, the high-protein mice put on less fat than mice on a low-protein regime.

The discovery boosts the theory that eating more protein might help to reduce appetite and lead to sustained weight loss, says Rachel Batterham of University College London, who led the research, published in the journal Cell Metabolism1. "All the evidence suggests that it will be beneficial," she says.

The discovery may also shed light on how the notorious Atkins diet, which ditches carbohydrates in favour of protein and saturated fats, might work. Studies have shown that people on this diet can loose weight, though it is unclear why. Batterham thinks she may have the answer: "People on the Atkins diet don't feel as hungry — that's how it works."

But, she cautions, that doesn't mean the Atkins diet is a good idea: "No medical person is going to tell you to have all that saturated fat in your diet and no carbohydrates." In its early stages, the regime causes a condition called ketosis, in which the liver, deprived of glycogen from carbohydrates, switches to its starvation mode and begins to metabolize fatty compounds. "The problem is that it makes you feel terrible," Batterham says.

She now plans to organize a long-term study of the effects of a high-protein diet in humans, which might feature foods such as lean meat, soy, tofu and egg.


The whole article may require a subscription.

March of the Penguins

Mad props to the documentary, "March of the Penguins." It's about penguin breeding season. Penguin breeding season: lasts 9 months a year, takes place at the south pole, requires birds that don't fly but swim, to neither fly nor swim, but do alot of walking (waddling, really). The chicks are cute, of course, but the cuddling mates are surprisingly tender, too. Check it out.

Meet the Femtroopers

Why didn't you nerds tell me about this?

There's a rimit to how much oppressive totaritarianism I can stand, and you just crossed it

So now China is censoring karaoke. As a founding member of the Society of Talentless Hams, I'm offended.