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Henninger: Hurricane Christie
The governor howls at the Republicans who were trying to help him.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was on front pages and TV screens last week when he ripped House Republicans for not passing a Hurricane Sandy relief bill New Year's Day, the same day they were engulfed with the fiscal-cliff tax bill.
"There's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims," said Gov. Christie, "the House majority and their speaker, John Boehner." GOP Congressman Michael Grimm from Staten Island called the non-vote on Sandy "a betrayal," and this being New York-New Jersey, Republican Peter King of Long Island invoked "a knife in the back."
The spectacle was irresistible. The Republican Party, exhausted by the fiscal-cliff fiasco, was hanging on the ropes, and here was party hero Chris Christie flying off the turnbuckles to crush John Boehner.
The New York Times pumped the tale of betrayal to the top of its front page. "Fury in G.O.P. as House Stalls Hurricane Aid. Northeast Republicans Lash Out at Boehner." Google searchers were directed to "watch Peter King explode at his own party." Make no mistake, Gov. Christie has just delivered his second poison pill to a major GOP candidacy: Any Republican who runs in New York City's mayoral campaign this November will have the governor's GOP-sellout statements thrown in his face.
Problem is, in virtually every respect, the betrayal story is wrong. House Republicans on the Appropriations Committee have been working for weeks to move a ton of money to the devastated Northeast. Indeed, within a day of learning more about this effort, Peter King, no shrinking violet, walked back his initial comments about Mr. Boehner and the party.
But Gov. Christie was back for more Tuesday in his State of the State speech: "New Jersey, both Republicans and Democrats, will never stand silent when our citizens are being short-changed."
How about some facts about politics, federal spending and Sandy relief.
Hurricane Katrina left the impression that the Federal Emergency Management Agency handles all federal disasters. But myriad federal agencies—from the Army Corps of Engineers to the Department of Housing and Urban Development—deal with post-disaster restoration. FEMA mainly addresses the immediate, post-storm needs.
On Dec. 4 the head of FEMA, Craig Fugate, told the House Transportation Committee that his agency had enough cash on hand to disburse aid until spring. If "the continued suffering of these victims" means New Jerseyans need FEMA-type aid yesterday and aren't getting it, Gov. Christie's complaint is with his friend, Barack Obama.
The bill before the House on New Year's Day was for Sandy relief needs through 2013 and beyond. The amount in that bill was $60.4 billion. Short-changed? Some perspective: The Agriculture Department's entire annual budget was $20 billion last year. For Justice, Commerce and Science it was $53 billion and for the State Department, $43.5 billion. Sandy's $60 billion is bigger than an entire federal department.
In November, the Obama Office of Management and Budget sent a letter to the House asking for $60 billion in relief aid. As is its habit, the Obama letter included little guidance on how to allocate the $60 billion among myriad federal agencies. House Appropriations undertook the job of interacting with the Washington bureaucracies on precisely how to allocate all this money.
Republican Committee Chairman Harold Rogers of Kentucky produced a $27 billion supplemental bill of initial commitments, much of it for FEMA when it ran out of money. Republican committee member Rodney Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, serving as liaison to his region, amended the Rogers bill to add $33 billion for longer-term reconstruction. That's $60 billion of relief assembled in good faith by Republicans for Gov. Christie and his "knife-in-the-back" political colleagues in the Northeast. The Sandy supplemental the House is scheduled to vote on Tuesday will be smaller; for example, it no longer includes the $9.7 billion flood insurance approved last week.
The federal government will spend billions repairing Sandy's damage, as it did for the South after Katrina and for the Midwest after its floods and recent drought. And every politician from Cape May to Connecticut will take credit for obtaining those billions in federal aid.
But it's hard to miss the irony of Sandy's $60 billion getting tangled up in the fiscal-cliff vote, whose reason for being is the U.S.'s new annual deficits of $1 trillion, which equals nearly 17 Sandy bills. And fuhgeddabout the entitlements. Where does all this come from?
Chris Christie's efforts to pull New Jersey back from its cliff and restore economic growth have been the basis for his aggressive governing style. Then Sandy hit New Jersey and New York, states whose public "commitments" could barely be supported on a sunny day. Now a widely admired governor's politics is being transformed into something pretty run-of-the mill.
People knocked flat by natural disasters deserve support from citizens who've had no such misfortune. In the U.S., we assume that's always possible. It still is. On current course, though, that assumption may start to break.
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Are the following definitions are equivalent?
An embedding of topological spaces is just a monic in Top, i.e. it is a continuous $e: A \rightarrow X$ s.t. for any space $Z$ the function $f \mapsto e \circ f:$ Top $\left(Z,A\right)\rightarrow$ Top $\left(Z,X\right)$ is injective i.e. $e_\circ f_1=e\circ f_2 \implies f_1 =f_2$.
$e:A \rightarrow X$ is an embedding iff
- $U\left(e\right):U\left(A\right)\rightarrow U\left(X\right)$ is injective in Set, where $U$ is the underling set functor.
- for any $Z \in$ Top a set map $U\left(f\right):U\left(Z\right) \rightarrow U\left(A\right)$, $f$ is continues iff $e \circ f : Z \rightarrow X$ is continuous.
Is the analogue definitions for epic and quotient space are also equivalent? Many thanks.

subset: commoncrawl


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2. Why is the hepatitis B virus called the silent killer?
|1. I have been affected by Hepatitis B. How can I become an advocate and help others with this disease?
|3. Why isn't hepatitis B recognized as a problem by the US government in the way that hepatitis C is?


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ABC's A-listers—including Modern Family's Sofia Vergara and Scandal's Bellamy Young—mixed and mingled with Beltway insiders during a cocktail party in the Washington Hilton's Columbia Room that served as a preamble to the evening's main event: The White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
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The annual party attracted a cross-section of Hollywood celebs, media titans and powerful politicos, including boldface names like Lew Dickey—Chairman, President and CEO of Cumulus Media—and Lara Spencer of Good Morning America. We also spotted the dashing Charles Esten of Nashville, whose wife helped him adjust his bow tie in between posing for photos!
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While the Hollywood stars shined brightly, some of the focus did remain on the White House. Scandal star Darby Stanchfield (in Alberta Ferretti) told us on the red carpet that she had recently achieved her top DC bucket-list wish—visiting the White House. "The President has such an interesting, tough job," she said. Spoken like a true Scandal star! -Photos by Jay Snap


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Beginner's Guide to Mountain Biking
Looking to go off road for the first time? Here are tips and advice you need to make your introduction to mountain biking fun and successful.
Improve your mountain biking with tips, training, and workout ideas from mountain biking experts. From singletrack and gravel grinders to cyclocross and cross-country, we've got mountain biking covered.
Adding family members lets ACTIVE find events specific to your family's interests.


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4 Nov 2011 10:20 AM #1
Combining Animations from Different Projects into one new project
I've created several character animations, made up of lots of animated parts, in different project files. Is it possible to combine these characters into a new animation. Without having to do some work-around editing of an HTML file. In other words, can you do this in Sencha? Take a bunch of grouped/nested objects, already animated and copy and paste them or somehow get them into another animation?
7 Nov 2011 9:46 AM #2
Parts (but not animations) can be added to your library and exported/imported though it.
If you want to move animations across projects, you could try to copy/paste them from project to project, however, images will not copy over, so you would have to go to your image objects and add the image again or go to your project folder and copy over the image assets manually.
7 Nov 2011 10:13 AM #3
I'm not sure what you mean, copy and paste them from project to project. Let's take the following example. Let's
say I have a monkey in one project, and that monkey is made up of separate objects for eyes, face, mouth, arms, legs, all grouped/nested together (I call them containers now since the Beta version called them containers). So, I name that nest Monkey Container. I've got keyframes on all those object layers, rotating them, moving the positions, to bring that monkey to life, let's say, have him walking from what appears to be far away to up close (which I do by keyframing the scaling). Now, in another project, for whatever reason, I've created this separately, perhaps thinking it'd go with some other concept, I have a jungle scene with lots of separate layers of trees, leaves, vines, etc. all also moving, saying swaying in the wind. Now, I want to add that moving monkey to the scene. I can't just click on the "container" or nest and copy and paste that. It doesn't appear that I can even command click on multiple keyframes to copy those, as one might in After Effects. So, I understand that I can use the same pieces that make up the monkey, and animate them again. But what I'm saying is, after spending all the time getting the money to move in exactly the way I want, I would love to be able to not have to recreate that animation.
On another note, another question. Let's say I have multiple animations in an app.
If there is some recurring asset, let's say it's the hypothetical monkey illustration, and it's named monkey.png, and I have at least two animations that both use the exact same image. Can I just have this one money.png file and import it into these two separate projects, and export those HTML files, where they'd be pulling the images from the asset folder, which would have just that one money.png file? Do I have to have two separate files, basically a duplicate of one image, with different names? monkey1.png and monkey2.png? Or if it's in the library then it can just be the one file? If the code in the HTML file just calls up a particular image at a particular time, wouldn't each animation that uses that monkey.png file just call it up when needed? Why does it even need to go through the library?
The way the folders are set up is that all the assets are in one big folder that the various html files/animations pull from.
7 Nov 2011 10:43 AM #4
1) Select your top-most object, "Monkey Container", in the object tree, then go to Edit->Copy. Open up your new project and go Edit->Paste. This should copy all the children and all animations. However, image assets are not copied. You'll have to manually copy them from the old project asset folder to the new one, or use the property editor to reimport images. Once the images are put into the asset folder you have to save and close animator and reopen it (images are cached, including missing images). You can multiple select several object if they are on the same level in the tree (e.g. have the same parent).
2) The asset folder keeps all images. When you add an image with the same name as an existing image, the old image will be overwritten. However, the old image is still cached in the system, so you have to close and reopen animator to see the new image. I think your answer is that you only need the one "monkey.png" file.
We're working on making sharing between projects easier.
3 May 2012 10:29 AM #5
the copy and paste doesn't seem to work as described
3 May 2012 11:02 AM #6
Would you mind elaborating on how it is not working? Are you selecting the objects (not the keyframes)?
3 May 2012 11:29 AM #7
Selected a nested group object with children. Hit copy, went to different project and tried paste, Paste doesn't even show as option in menu. Thx.
3 May 2012 1:41 PM #8
I was on a PC when I tried this. Went to a Mac and it seems to work. Which brings the next question, on a pc I can have multiple instances of Animator running, which makes it easy to switch between projects. On a Mac I can only have one project open at a time. Is this an OS thing or is it possible to have multiple projects open in OS X?
3 May 2012 3:57 PM #9
So on Windows you can run several instances of the same program, but OS X limits you to run one instance. Copy/paste will not work across instances, only in the same program, so you have to make sure to stay in the same instance on Windows for copy/paste to work properly at the moment.
As for opening up multiple documents within Animator, I can't give you any timeline on that, but it would be a nice feature.


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Home > Food > Recipes > Lasagna Roll-Ups
Lasagna Roll-Ups
Categories: Birthdays, Kid-friendly
Type: Main Dishes
Type: Main Dishes
This recipe is quicker to make than traditional lasagna, and can even be made with bottled sauce if you are in a hurry.
Serves: 4 servings
- 8 lasagna noodles (about 6 1/2 ounces)
- 1 cup shredded nonfat or reduced-fat mozzarella cheese
- 15 ounces nonfat or low-fat ricotta cheese
- 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
- 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) unsalted tomatoes, crushed
- 1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
- 1/4 cup unsalted vegetable broth or water
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon crushed fresh garlic
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- To make the sauce, place all of the sauce ingredients in a 1 1/2-quart pot, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.
- To make the filling, place all of the filling ingredients in a medium-sized bowl, and stir to mix well. Set aside.
- Cook the noodles al dente according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cool water, and drain again.
- Coat a 2 1/2-quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray. To assemble the roll-ups, arrange the noodles on a flat surface, and spread an eighth of the filling mixture along the length of each noodle. Roll each noodle up jelly-roll style, and place in the prepared dish, seam side down. Pour the sauce over the roll-ups.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil, and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, top with the mozzarella, and bake uncovered for 10 additional minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Serve hot.
- In a hurry? Instead of preparing homemade sauce for your Lasagna Roll-Ups, use 3 cups of bottled marinara sauce.
excerpted from:
Excerpted from The Best-Kept Secrets of Healthy Cooking by Sandra Woodruff, R.D. Copyright � 2000 by Sandra Woodruff.
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Tina April 27, 2013
Hall of Springs in Saratoga Springs, New York
Wtoo Brides style 15821 Desdemona
From the Bride: My wedding was perfect and exactly what my husband & I dreamed about. Our theme was "A Wedding Night Out"- high energy, lounge feel with lots of great food! I felt so beautiful because of my WTOO dress, it was amazing!! One of my bridesmaids, wear a WTOO dress for her wedding and I knew that I wanted to wear one as well. After seeing Desdemona gown on the website, I know that was my dream dress. Everyone was gushing over all the details and the buttons down the back. I think about putting it back on everyday. Thank you for making dresses with such beautiful details!


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6 Progressive Parenting Fads You Won't Believe Are Legal
There are only three kinds of parents in the world: good ones, bad ones and ones who put their kids on leashes. Usually, the bad ones are far too busy hitting the crack pipe to mess with the edification and development of their progeny. Not in these cases. Below are six ways well-meaning people can nearly kill their children, without even the benefit of a little bump of meth.
#6. Suspended Baby Cages
We know what you're thinking: it's just a playpen with a lid, and what's so horrific about that? Even the best mother can't hover over a toddling baby 24/7, so putting a baby in a safe place, even if it kind of looks like a cage, at least keeps him away from the machete drawer.
Or the happy magic juice.
It's at this point that we should probably clarify what we're talking about here. It's not that the contraption was merely a cage, even though we do want to go on the record as being anti-putting-babies-in-wire-cages. It's that this particular cage was not on the ground. It was suspended out of a window, like so:
The only time your child will be in danger of low-flying aircraft.
Have you ever looked up at an AC unit precariously perched on the edge of a fourth-story window and wondered if that thing would work as a baby holder? No? Huh.
In the 1930s, London mothers had a problem. Unlike country babies, city babies didn't have acres of rambling estates to crawl around. Fortunately, some idiot in America patented the perfect solution for air-starved infants -- a baby kennel that hung out the window. Mini-humans with a hankerin' for fresh air could just crawl right out the window into their totally safe cages.
"Oh dear, little Kierkegaard has been reading about nihilism again."
The best part is that the mother doesn't scream in horror as her child totters out an open window, or that she never realizes she's trained her baby to totter out open windows. The other best part is how the patent specifies the mom can lock the cage from the interior of the house, just in case the baby really wants to get back inside but hasn't been aired out enough yet. The patent also specifies that the cage has a solid lid, so the little tyke won't get wet in the "snow and rain."
It's OK to dangle your child high above the street ... as long as he doesn't get wet.
Fresh air was a fucking huge commodity back then, apparently.
#5. Baby Juggling (aka Baby Yoga)
Don't you hate how your newborn infant just lays around, all immobile and way too easy to kill? Look at it. It's practically begging predators or a strong wind to put mild pressure on a few choice spots and turn your future meal ticket into just a meal.
"Got your nose! OH GOD IT'S COME RIGHT OFF."
According to baby yoga instructor Lena Fokina, the problem isn't that evolution has rendered us as helpless as a lump of used up Kleenex when we're born; it's that we're not hating our baby's weaknesses enough. You need to be teaching that infant mobility, freedom and independence, and also how to survive in a world filled with windmills, tornadoes and batshit yoga instructors.
Here's a video where you can learn exactly how stupid you've been, treating your infant like it's some kind of tiny bag of meat-glass. Warning: Don't watch this video. Just fucking don't.
Do you know how many times we had to watch this to get screenshots? A whole bunch.
Yes, that is a real baby, and no, swinging a newborn child around like a flaming lasso is not a good idea, no matter how wide your yoga gauchos are or how mystic the writing on your orange sweatpants looks. Yet somebody handed over their tiny, days-old babies to this horrible woman to swing, presumably because they couldn't face the shame of straight up killing their children themselves. And just so we're very, very clear, Lena Fokina isn't doing the playful swing-around we all loved as sturdy, not-just-born-and-totally-able-to-hold-our-necks-upright-children:
Originally used by the Vikings as a way to train for the hammer throw.
Not at all. She's single-handedly swinging those naked newborns by the ankle in what appears to be a rock garden. The only way this lady could make the situation more deadly would be if there were a Crips and Bloods gang war going on all around her. But even then, someone would probably rush that baby to safety before commencing with the killing. No one would remove Lena, though. She's fine where she is.
The baby was fine by the way. Us, not so much.
#4. Male Breast-Feeding
For years now, women have been jabbering about getting their equal share of things. Votes, jobs, sandwiches, syphilis ... nothing is left untouched by power-hungry feminists. So it's no surprise that men have started asking for their slices of traditional woman pie as well. Including providing sustenance to baby humans with their man teats.
The baby is clearly terrified of that shirt. So are we.
The Milk Men are a group of guys who say that with a little patience, men can make man milk come out of their boobies, or moobies. All the parts are there -- mammary tissue, milk ducts and the milk-producing hormones oxytocin and prolactin. All it takes to get started is a lack of humility and the willpower and diligence to get the milk flowing. A few minutes of letting a breast pump tug at your nipples doesn't hurt, either. If you're NOT AT WORK and DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR EYES, you can watch the video below to get a little taste of what male nursing looks like:
We're not sure why there was a naked lady in a red tub, either, so don't ask.
Apparently, just the act of suckling triggers the hormones that make milk. In fact, there's one African tribe where it's the men who nurse the babies and the women who bring home the bacon, thereby earning the nickname "Best Dads in the World." Take that, Dr. Huxtable! You never even once nursed your children on your bosom! Never. Even. Once.
The best dad in the world. We're nauseous with pride.


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This Time It Was Recorded
Pope Francis was interviewed by the editor of Corriere della Sera who brought a number of recording devices to the interview.
It has been published in its entirety in Corriere as well as in L'Osservatore Romano. There are many topics covered that will elicit much commentary. The fullest account in English I've seen is the report by Gerard O'Connell in Vatican Insider.
Here is one personal observation the Pope makes:
"I like to be among people, to be with the one who is suffering, to go into the parishes", he stated. But he denied that he has gone out at night to feed the down and outs near the Vatican. He made clear however that he detests being depicted as a kind of superman or star: "Sigmund Freud said that in every idealization there is an aggression. To depict the Pope as a kind of superman or a star seems to me offensive".
And on Humanae Vitae Francis said:
When asked whether the Church would again revisit the question of birth control, some 50 years after Humanae Vitae, Francis recalled that, at the end, Paul VI "recommended that confessors should be very merciful, and be attentive to the concrete situations". Francis praised his predecessor for being "prophetic" and for "having the courage to go against the majority, to defend the moral discipline, to exercise a cultural brake, and to oppose present and future Neo-Malthusianism." But, he said, it is not a question of changing doctrine, rather "it is a matter of going into the issue in depth and bringing it about that the pastoral practice takes account of situations and of what is possible for persons". This will be discussed at the synod, he added.
About the Author
Rev. Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is Associate Professor of Theology Emeritus at Boston College.
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Excessive praise is always a setup and conceals hostility. So important that Francis sees that. Quite diplomatic on Humanae Vitae. Leaves it dangling saying that the Synod will take it up. If the Synod changes HV, I wonder if it will use language like: As Paul VI says in HV......
Again, for our gilded age and preoccupation with wealth, Francis reminds. Will Langone complain to Dolan again. Despite Dolan one cannot say Francis "loves the rich."
"the Gospel condemns the cult of wellbeing" and emphasizes that when we are judged in death "our closeness to poverty" will be counted. "Poverty keeps idolatry far away, and opens the door to Providence," he states.
John Thavis also has good excerpts:
And here is Josh McElwee's extended write up:
Much to chew over, and as usual something for everyone -- to like and dislike.
Francis certainly doesn't have the same view of the sex abuse scandals that American Catholics have, and that seems like a real potential problem for him, especially in the US context.
It's interesting that the interviewer, de Bortoli, sets it up from a very defensive posture, saying that "fortunately the scandals are behind us" and asks Francis to respond to a provocative letter to him in the rightwing paper Il Foglio asking the pope to launch a "counteroffensive" to critics on abuse, which the signatories call "blackmail by the secular world's rabid vanguards."
Well, when you put it that way...
Then again, much of the Catholic right has had the rug pulled from under them by Francis' pointed dismissal of the idea of an agenda of a few "non-negotiables."
"I never understood the expression 'non-negotiable values.' Values are values, period. I can't say that among the fingers of a hand, one is less useful than the other. So I don't understand in what sense there can be negotiable values."
Well, there goes the last 25 years of official Catholic political action in the public square...
IMHO, while his contniued witness for the poor will capture all hearts, if he does not act more decisively with bishops who allowed the worse phase of the sex abuse scandal, the laity will grow disenchanted. And then it he refuses to recognize the non-acceptance of HV re: contraception, he will completely lose much of the West that has put far too many hopes for reform upon him,
With his view of contraception, he seems to be ignoring all the results recorded so far from the Vatican surveys. No matter how much every likes him, there is no way he's not going to be able to change people's mind's on this subject.
What's the view on contraception among Catholics in Africa, Asia and Latin America? Do they share the same perspective as Catholiics in the US and Europe, or do they diverge?
"More than 90 percent of Catholics in Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Spain and France support the use of contraception. Those less inclined to support it were in the Philippines (68 percent), Congo (44 percent) and Uganda (43 percent). In the United States, 79 percent of Catholics support using contraception."
But when speaking of Asia, Japan is clearly for contraception ... http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/japanese-bishops-vatican-mindset-do...
If anyone hears about a complete English translation, please let us know.
Here's a Spanish translation from Argentina's La Nación:
An English translation ...
"Francis recalled that, at the end, Paul VI "recommended that confessors should be very merciful, and be attentive to the concrete situations"."
"But, he said, it is not a question of changing doctrine, rather "it is a matter of going into the issue in depth and bringing it about that the pastoral practice takes account of situations and of what is possible for persons"."
What does this mean? That what the Church says may not contradict what the Church says, but if it listens carefully then what it tells others to do may contradict what it says? Or what?
It is quite obvious what it means. As Humpty Dumpty says in Alice's adventures in wonderland, when I use a word it means just what I choose it mean !
As Bill says, if the Synod changes HV, I wonder if it will use language like: As Paul VI says in HV...The answer is of course. This is the perennial teaching of the Church and always has been!!
What does this mean?
FWIW, here is what Paul VI wrote in Humanae Vitae, in a section headed "Christian Compassion". I believe this is what Francis was referencing when he noted that Paul VI ""recommended that confessors should be very merciful, and be attentive to the concrete situations":
29. Now it is an outstanding manifestation of charity toward souls to omit nothing from the saving doctrine of Christ; but this must always be joined with tolerance and charity, as Christ Himself showed in His conversations and dealings with men. For when He came, not to judge, but to save the world, (41) was He not bitterly severe toward sin, but patient and abounding in mercy toward sinners?
Husbands and wives, therefore, when deeply distressed by reason of the difficulties of their life, must find stamped in the heart and voice of their priest the likeness of the voice and the love of our Redeemer.
So speak with full confidence, beloved sons, convinced that while the Holy Spirit of God is present to the magisterium proclaiming sound doctrine, He also illumines from within the hearts of the faithful and invites their assent. Teach married couples the necessary way of prayer and prepare them to approach more often with great faith the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Penance. Let them never lose heart because of their weakness.
IN Paul VI's defence, this you tube video from the Austin Institute on the economics of sex, while grossly oversimplifying the subject of sexuality does persuasively argue that the development of birth control was a "technological shock" that had an impact on interpersonal relationships espcially marriage. People are marrying less and older now.
In some ways, this video validates at least part of what Paul VI predicted...
People get married less often now for many reasons, most of them economical (women can now support themselves) .... I doubt it has anything to do with contraception. Philosopher Martha Nussbaum wrote ...
"the rise of divorce in recent years is probably connected to women's social and political empowerment more than to any other factor. When women had no rights, no marketable skills, and hence no exit options, they often had to put up with bad marriages, with adultery, neglect, even with domestic violence. When women are able to leave, they demand a better deal. This simple economic explanation for the rise of divorce—combined with Milton's emphasis on people's need for emotional attunement and conversation—is much more powerful than the idea of a fall from ethical purity in explaining how we've moved from where we were to where we are today.:
True Crystal. In fact, statistically most divorces are intiated by women (70% I read). But divorce is one thing, marriage another. Why are people marrying later? Marraige is more attractive for women, for a whole series of evolutionary and cultural reasons, than it is to men The video does make an accurate point that, in the main, men and women approach sex differently. The meaning attached to it is different. Removing the consequence of pregancy does not change that fact. Women still have differing reasons for sex than men.
According to their presentation in the casual sex department, women have much more options, many more men than available women but in the marriage option, women are at a disadvantage.
The economy of sex, and by extension marriage, has been impacted.
That is not to place any moral value to artificial contraception (any more than the use of pesticides to encourage growith as the video mentions). It is to say that there are unintended consequences to that technology on ecology, Just as there are unintended consequences of contraception on the human ecology concerning marriage.
So, in some senses, Paul VI did make some valid and, indeed prophetic points, in HV. I am not saying that I agree that artificial contraception is intrinsically evil in each and every instance in marriage. That is a stretch. But his caution around the implications of the technology on human sexuality is correct.
You wrote ... "Marraige is more attractive for women, for a whole series of evolutionary and cultural reasons, than it is to men The video does make an accurate point that, in the main, men and women approach sex differently. The meaning attached to it is different. Removing the consequence of pregancy does not change that fact. Women still have differing reasons for sex than men."
I'd disagree.
First, men are actually the bigger beneficiaries of marraige than women, economically and also health-wise ... http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/01/19/women-men-and-the-new-economic... ... http://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20030915/only-happy-marriage-is-health...
Second, men and women are actually almost identical in what they like and wnat in relationships and sex ..... http://www.apa.org/research/action/difference.aspx ... http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2013-02/science-confirms-obvious-m...
Third, the reasons why people don't marry as early or as often are pretty much the same as why there are more divorces ... there more other opportunities (like living together) and more people (especialyl women) able to afford a single life, etc. ... http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/why-are-fewer-and-fewer-people-getti...
Sorry, that first link from the Pew Forum is here ... http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/01/19/women-men-and-the-new-economic...
Those studies make my point:
From the study:
Only a few main differences appeared: Compared with women, men could throw farther, were more physically aggressive, masturbated more, and held more positive attitudes about sex in uncommitted relationships.
So there were, indeed similarities in cognition and verbal and non-verbal cognition. But I do disagree with these findings because they contradict other studies in language that show that, on average, women have far better language skills, possess a larger range of vocabulary, and are able to make connections between relationships more accurately than men. In fact, there was a study (cannot find it at the moment) that showed that girls in a classroom were 92% accurate identifying who was friends with who in a classroom than boys who were only something like 70% accurate. So awareness of relationships is a greater skill, at least among young girls in this study. Maybe the sexes equalize after time but there are clear differences. But, even this study showed differences with respect to sexuality and attitudes around sex.
With respect to marriage:
Women who got little satisfaction from their marriages came to the study in worse health. They didn't get better over time. Happily married women started out in pretty good health and aged well.
"Women in distressed marriages -- and in this group, this meant they were not all that distressed, but less happy than other women -- already suffered the negative effects of being in a less-than-happy marriage,"
Yet, men consistently are able to earn more, less stress and less other problems than women. So, men can handle a distressed marriage more than women and a distressed marriage is less likely to be problematic for a man which gets back to approach to sexuality. Men will probably be more likely to engage in uncommitted, extramarital sexual affairs than women.
And women will be more likely to want to exit a distressed marriage (as I said earlier). And they will seek a relationship that is satisfactory because they place a higher value on postive relationships as part of their well-being.
Banning contraception addresses the symptoms, not the problem. It's so shocking that we live in a world where the prospect of a healthy mother gving birth to a healthy baby isn't always considered a blessing. But that IS the world we live in: where men and women can't afford to have children; where the professional and material accomplishments of men and women are valued more than the amazing achievement of raising a child; where women have preventable health issues that make it dangerous for them to have children.
Even in a more perfect world, there would still be a need for contraception- to protect a woman's health, or where parents aren't capable of parenting and they know it, for example.
But if our culture changed its values and truly valued family and children and structured itself to support and celebrate families, there would be more judicious use of contraception. Then the Church would be right to encourage people to be more open to having children. But I think in the world we live in now, our job is not to oppose contracpetion, but to work to make it a better place for families and children.
Just to be clear Irene, I am not opposing contraception. I am just saying that any technology, of any type including this very media, has both postive and negative social and cultural consequences and so did this technology.
We just need to think about how we integrate it into our lives. Of course, contraception occurs in the wider context of human sexuality and even here there are variances around its expression.
E.g. Even assuming all safe precautions are taken, is multiple sexual partners ethically problematic? ; is adultery wrong in each and every instance? On these questions, gender plays a role and contraception has eliminated at least part of the hesitancy around engaging in such experiments.


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Recent Toy Recalls
16 of 28
Skippy Pool Toys
"Skippy" is a plastic fish that kids can launch across the surface of a pool, using an elastic mechanism. Several injuries have been reported, due to the fish's plastic tongue detaching and lacerating users. Parents are advised to take this product away from their children immediately. Visit the manufacturer's website, www.swimways.com, for more information.
More on: Childhood Safety


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Part 18: Traction Tales - Improving 60-Foot TimesWritten by on April 1, 2004 Cutting 60-foot Times with Competition Engineering
With the arrival of the UPS truck, the plan had finally come to completion. The Competition Engineering (CE) Slide-A-Link bars I ordered had arrived. We have seen several stock-class racers using the Slide-A-Link bars, and we wanted to know how well they worked. The Slide-A-Link is a completely bolt-on traction device designed for both street and strip use. A solid-mounted front plate is installed inside the original front spring hanger and clamps to the leaf spring. This provides a positive displacement for the torque that is transmitted from the rear axle through the telescoping bar and durometer shock pad. Free travel and pre-load adjustments are made by adjusting the jackscrew at the rear of the bar. Each kit includes lower-axle mount pads, 1/2-inch U-bolts, replacement aluminum, front spring-eye bushings, and all the necessary hardware. These bars offer the adjustability of a four-link suspension, allowing you to tweak them for track conditions.
With the back of the Valiant jacked-up and supported by jackstands under the frame, we began by removing the bottom plates and putting the CE stuff in place. Adding the Slide-A-Link bars was accomplished in a day. Then it was time to see if the adjustability was as good as we had heard.
We picked a sunny day to haul the Valiant to Lakeland Motorsports Park. We put the car on the car trailer, just in case something did break. Not only that, but driving on the mickey Thompson slicks would surely get us in trouble. To begin the test, we removed the two bolts holding the bars in place, in order to make our first pass without them.
We arrived at the track early, and the weather was around 75 degrees with no humidity. When it came time to race, I was one of the first cars to hit the starting line. I avoided the water box because I wanted to see what kind of improvement could be had without heating the slicks. After the staged light was lit, I hit the horn button activating the line-lock ("Whoa There, Son", Feb. '03) and brought the rpm up to 4,500 on the tach. When the lights came down, my foot came off the clutch and my thumb off the horn button. Even though it has been several years since I have been to the track, I guess I got lucky--I had a .539 light.
The Mickey Thompson E/T Drags bit hard enough at launch to bog the engine and unload the suspension. The 60-foot times were soft with a 2.84. The 60-foot times are a little slow, but, hopefully, installing the Slide-A-Link bars will help. After going back to the pits, I installed the bars and adjusted them until they just touch the stops. Back at the starting line, everything was done the same way--no burnout, and again launching at 4,500 rpm. During the launch, I realized the engine just doesn't have enough oomph to avoid bogging under the traction of the E/T Drags--no big surprise. This time, my reaction time slowed a bit with a .619, but the 60-foot times improved dramatically to a 1.98. By just installing the bars, with no adjusting, we had improved our 60-foot times by a little over eight-tenths of a second. The bars definitely helped. During the launch, I could feel the car push to the left a little. I went back to the pits and tightened the left bar a little less than a quarter-turn to compensate. Back at the starting line, once again no burn out, and we launched at 4,500 rpm. My reaction time was a .605, but our 60-foot times had jumped to a 1.88--another tenth quicker.
At the track, we picked up almost a whole second by simply installing and adjusting these bars. On a high-powered car, the advantages of the Slide-A-Links would definitely be magnified.
More Photos From This Article View Slideshow
The front of the spring now slides into the front pivot-point assembly. This pivot is a solid-mounted front plate installed inside the original front spring-pocket, and clamps to the leaf spring to provide a positive displacement for the torque applied during hard launches.With the bar's front mount installed on the spring, you can now install the front of the spring back into the hanger. The short piece of the Slide-A-Link is then installed into the bar's hanger. install the spacers into the arm, slide it into the bracket, and install the bolt.Raise the rear of the spring and reattach it to the car. If you left your rear end in place resting on the jack, you will not need to reattach brake lines, E-brake cables, and the driveshaft. Using the Slide-A-Link axle bracket, attach the spring to the rear end.Place the Durometer urethane spacer onto the short arm of the bars, and slide the longer one into it. Make sure the longer-arm portion is on the rear of the assembly. The long arm is where all adjustments are made to dial in the bars for each application.Place the rear half of the bar into the rear mount. For a starting point, Competition Engineering recommends tightening the driver side only until the urethane spacer contacts the arm at both ends. adjust the bars on the passenger side until the spacer touches. then give it another quarter turn.So, what are these bars supposed to do? When properly adjusted, they will eliminate axle wrapup. Axle wrapup occurs when your car is launched hard, e.g., the start of a drag race. As the wheels turn forward, the axle housing will want to rotate in the opposite direction. When the spring has wrapped up as far as it can, the energy in the spring forces it to return to its normal location. This occurs violently, and the force of the returning spring can force the car upward, unloading the weight of the car off the tires. When the weight of the car is off the tires, they will spin. The diagram illustrates axle wrapup.


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7 Dumb Food Myths the Internet Thinks Are True
#3. Twinkies Are Not Real Food, They Last Forever
The whole "Twinkies can last up to 20 years on the shelf because they're not food" thing has been around for years. It was a staple with 80s comedians, along with the unsatisfactory nature of airline peanuts.
This book recounts the full tale, including a whole big back story on how the manufacturer hasn't had to manufacture Twinkies in years, because they have a huge warehouse full of them somewhere.
Actual Twinkie warehouse.
The Facts
Twinkies do last a bit longer than your average cakes filled with cream: a whole month. What? Were you expecting us to tell you they really are industrially refined additives shaped to look and taste like food, that never get stale? Hell, if anyone actually had access to that kind of technology, the world would probably be in their hands.
Instead, we just fry the little suckers.
Nope, check the label and you'll see the ingredients (in order of quantity) are flour, sugar, corn syrup, water, shortening, and eggs. Sounds a whole lot like a regular ol' cake. That's because it is.
Now, on top of the above ingredients, you've got two dozen additives meant to keep the cakes moist long beyond the week or so you'd get out of a cake you made fresh. We could go on and on about how unhealthy those yellow bastards are, but come on. You didn't think they were fucking celery stalks.
#2. Margarine is Actually Plastic
Margarine is kind of like Velveeta Cheese: everybody has it in their kitchen, but what is it? Let's ask the crazy people:
"Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter.
Triple risk of coronary heart disease.
Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold.
Decreases immune response.
And here's the most disturbing fact.... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS! VERY INTERESTING!
Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC."
The Facts
We would love to know how they came up with that turkey story (maybe they misunderstood the whole "Butterball" thing?). Margarine is just made from vegetable oil (or some other kind of plant or animal fat) and was invented as a cheaper substitute for butter in 19th Century France.
It's true that margarine is white until they add yellow coloring to it. But guess what, that cheese on your hamburger wasn't orange until they added an orange dye to it. Who gives a shit?
Great. Now we're starving.
Far more retarded is the capitalized-so-you-know-it's-true statement, "MARGARINE IS ONE MOLECULE AWAY FROM PLASTIC."
Not only is that not right, that's not even wrong. It's a meaningless statement. Saying something is "one molecule away" from plastic is like saying a farm is one letter away from a fart. Water is "one molecule away" from being explosive hydrogen gas.
This whole thing smells of lies spread by the dairy industry.
#1. Canola Oil is RAPE OIL
Quick: Where does canola oil come from? Don't know? Well the internet has some shocking news for you, buddy:
"Here are just a few facts everyone should know before buying anything containing canola. Canola is not the name of a natural plant but a made-up word, from the words "Canada" and "oil". Canola is a genetically engineered plant developed in Canada from the Rapeseed Plant, which is part of the mustard family of plants. According to AgriAlternatives, The Online Innovation, and Technology Magazine for Farmers, 'By nature, these rapeseed oils, which have long been used to produce oils for industrial purposes, are... toxic to humans and other animals.'
It is an industrial oil. It is not a food. Rape oil, it seems, causes emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, and blindness in animals and humans.
There's more, but to conclude: rape oil was the source of the chemical warfare agent mustard gas, which was banned after blistering the lungs and skins of hundred of thousands of soldiers and civilians during W.W.I."
The Facts
Whoa! Holy shit! We love the way the writer crammed in every scary word they could think of: rape, war, cancer, emphysema, respiratory distress, anemia, constipation, irritability, blindness, Canada.
Well to start, congratulations to the canola oil marketing people, who realized at some point that the oil from rapeseed--or Rape Oil--probably needed another name to succeed with housewives. Thus: Canola Oil.
"....Why don't we change the name?"
Probably our favorite part of this story is where they quote the magazine saying canola oils "are ... toxic to humans." We're thinking the words they omitted for the ellipses there were, "obviously" and "not."
The story goes on for much longer than our excerpt up there, and climaxes with this scene straight out of direct-to-DVD horror movie:
"My daughter and her girls were telling jokes. Stephanie hit her mom's arm with the back of a butter knife in a gesture, 'Oh mom' not hard enough to hurt. My daughters arm split open like it was rotten. She called me to ask what could have caused it. I said, 'I'll bet anything that you are using Canola oil'. Sure enough, there was a big gallon jug in the pantry."
Another canola-related death.
Damn! You'd think we would have heard about something like that! Unless it's just the rantings of an anonymous crazy person!
Fortunately, not only is this not true, but canola oil is healthier than most other cooking oils. This will not help you if your arm ever "splits open like it is rotten." In that case you likely have that flesh-eating bacteria and you might as well eat whatever the hell you want.
Check out Dan O'Brien's latest column, where he shows you Why You Don't Steal from Cracked. Or,if you're tired of reading, and just want to watch Sarah Palin get interviewed while a turkey is slaughtered by a mad man, check out our Top Picks, where we bring you the best links from around the web and The Mirth Canal.


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6 Crucial Movie Scenes That Never Made It Out of the Script
#3. Ferris Bueller's Day Off -- Ferris Rips Off His Dad to Fund His Adventure
Maybe we're getting older, maybe we've just seen this film too many times, but something has always seemed a bit off about Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Specifically, how could the "day off" even happen? Throughout the course of the movie, we see Ferris treating his girlfriend and his friend Cameron to an upscale restaurant, a baseball game and the single most melodramatic museum visit ever.
"Perhaps some exposition would help us understand this art?"
That requires a hell of a lot of money for a kid living on a teenager's allowance. Yes, his parents appear to be rich, but as Ferris himself would point out, "It still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car." So, how does Ferris finance his excursion?
The Missing Scene:
The answer in the script jibes perfectly with what we already know about the character: Ferris gets the money through dishonesty and manipulation. He literally steals some saving bonds from his father after tricking him into saying where he hides them. John Hughes even had Ferris light up a cigarette and blow smoke rings as he duped his dad.
4. Felony Larceny
The scene comes right after Ferris convinces Cameron to come over to his house: They're talking on the phone when Ferris' dad calls on the other line to check up on him (remember, he was faking being sick in order to skip school). Ferris tells Cameron that he's "working on getting some heavy bucks out of" his dad -- he then switches back to his dad and casually brings up "those saving bonds you used to give me every Christmas," which leads to the following exchange:
Ferris then looks at the camera and says:
How It Changes the Movie:
First of all, it lets you know right off the bat that Ferris is a dick, which is probably why John Hughes chose to omit it. But, at the same time, it stresses the fact that this isn't just a regular day in Ferris' life: He was only able to do all the things he did because he stole his dad's money, and we're assuming that's not a stunt he can repeat every weekend. The movie is about a singular time in a young man's life when he's finishing school and about to go into college, and there's something bittersweet about the fact that he'll never be able to relive these carefree days again.
And then you remember that he's a douche who stole money, cut school and destroyed a sports car without taking responsibility for any of it.
#2. Saving Private Ryan -- Why the Squad Is Walking Around With No Ammo, on Foot
Saving Private Ryan is widely regarded as one of the finest World War II films of all time, even if it didn't contain enough scenes of William Shakespeare making out with Gwyneth Paltrow in drag to warrant an Academy Award for Best Picture in 1999.
Still, when you think about it, there's one thing about the movie that doesn't make sense: Why the hell do Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad embark on their mission on foot and with almost no ammo? That's kind of the key to the whole tension of the movie -- they're on their own, on foot, with no backup. We mean, this is the freaking middle of World War II here, and they're supposed to find and bring home Private Ryan (Matt Damon) somewhere in Nazi-occupied France. Why did they head out no more equipped for the job than the hobbits in The Lord of the Rings?
"Upham, what's the German word for 'friend?'"
Contrary to what the German army might tell you, marching across the French countryside is not a walk in the park. So, what gives?
The Missing Scene:
It turns out that there was an entire sequence in the script where Miller's squad leaves Omaha Beach on a badass jeep, with all of the requisite equipment you'd need for a wartime rescue mission. But they lose it in a battle, along with most of their munitions. Apparently Spielberg decided to cut this part pretty late in the game, because you can actually see them driving the jeep in the movie ... for two seconds. Pay close attention to the 0:10-0:12 mark here.
"Dammit, Hanks, I called shotgun!"
Before that, in the deleted scene Miller convinces the supply sergeant to let them use the jeep, which belongs to one General Gavin, by mentioning that Private Ryan's three brothers were killed in action. The sergeant is moved by this tale and lets them take off in it. And so:
In the script, the jeep serves them pretty well until it gets blown up in a skirmish, taking most of their ammo with it. This scene is even referenced in the movie when Miller tells Ted Danson "We lost most of our ammo" so early into their mission.
But it still doesn't explain why Ted Danson is there.
How It Changes the Movie:
The fact that the squad had not only a jeep but also a shitload more ammo adds a whole lot of feasibility to their mission, which otherwise feels kind of half-assed ... even more so when you consider that they technically had a jeep in the movie, they just decided to drop it and continue on foot for no reason at all.
"Sizemore looked like he could use a little exercise anyway."
#1. Leon: The Professional -- Yes, Leon Sleeps With a 12-Year-Old Girl
Leon: The Professional is about an Italian killer living in New York (Jean Reno) who starts taking care of a girl named Mathilda (a very young Natalie Portman) after her family is killed. If you've seen this movie, you'll probably agree that there's something slightly off-putting about it; in the words of Roger Ebert, "Always at the back of my mind was the troubled thought that there was something wrong about placing a 12-year-old character in the middle of this action."
That's one way of putting it.
In one scene, Leon wakes up in bed and a scantily clad Mathilda is sitting next to him, but that's the closest they ever get to being romantically involved. So why does this movie creep us out so much?
The Missing Scene:
The international cut of the film reveals that the night before that scene, Mathilda tried to coax Leon into making love to her, but he turned her down because he "wouldn't be a good lover" (apparently there are no laws about having sex with minors in other countries, but there are plenty of laws about doing it lousily). Well, the screenplay takes the wrongness even further by making it clear that, actually, he does sleep with her. While crying. Here's the scene:
"How beautiful it is seeing them sweetly making love" is an actual line that the screenwriter wrote. And no, she's isn't 30 instead of almost 13 in this draft.
How It Changes the Movie:
For starters, this explains why Leon is so edgy the whole damn picture: On top of the corrupt DEA agent, he also had to be on the lookout for Child Protective Services busting his ass for pedophilia. But mainly, it confirms our hunch that there was something fishy going on in this movie all along. We'll never look at Luc Besson pictures the same way again.
This casts a whole new light on Bruce Willis making out with a newborn in The Fifth Element.
Jacopo would like to thank @SimonBWFC, @AdamKalontas and everyone else for following him on Twitter. This article is dedicated to you.
For more key scenes producers could've left us, check out 7 Famous Movie Flaws That Were Explained in Deleted Scenes and 6 Deleted Scenes That Prove the Book Isn't Always Better.
If you're pressed for time and just looking for a quick fix, then check out Deleted Scene That Would Have Ruined 'Shawshank Redemption'.
And stop by LinkSTORM to see the deleted scene that will save all your Mondays.
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7 Deadly Things You Won't Believe Most People Survive
#3. More Than Half of the Passengers Survived the Hindenburg
Via Wikipedia
We realize this one probably doesn't apply directly to your life unless you intend to board a zeppelin built exactly like the Hindenburg at some point in the future (hey, who can say where life will take you?), but it's still a great example of how really hard it is to kill a human being.
After all, this is the freaking Hindenburg -- its very name is synonymous with an enormous ball of fire so big that it made a reporter shit his pants on the air. It wasn't the worst accident in history -- you can only fit so many people on board a blimp -- but it was certainly the most spectacular one ever captured on film.
The aircraft had its stunning explosion over Lakehurst, New Jersey, on May 6, 1937, and it was probably a good thing for the Nazis that the Zeppelin Company went against pressure from Joseph Goebbels to name the airship after Hitler. The accident resulted in 36 fatalities and a memorial not nearly as awkward as it could have been.
Via Steubensociety.org
In an alternate history, the marker is known as the Adolf Hitler Memorial Plaque.
It's no wonder the video of this thing going up in flames became one of the most famous newsreels of all time -- the footage looked and sounded like an old-timey star destroyer going down. So for passengers on this doomed aircraft, they had to deal with not only being in the middle of a supernova of burning hydrogen gas, but also plummeting to the ground a second later.
Yet, incredibly, the odds of surviving the enormous fireball were actually pretty good. Out of the 97 passengers and crew aboard the floating airship, only 35 were killed when it exploded.
Via Anus.com
What a 65 percent survival rate looks like.
The chief reason your chances of having survived the Hindenburg were "more than likely" instead of "zero" was because the mechanics of the disaster happened to play out like a quick-time event similar to something out of Resident Evil 4. All the passengers and cabins were on the underside of the airship, so once it went aflame and lost its lift, surviving just boiled down to timing. In the following video, you can actually see the passengers and crew waiting until the dying zeppelin slowly drifted close enough to the ground, pressing "X" to "jump" and then doing what any sane person would do: running like hell.
Also, you may have noticed that's 35 passengers and crew killed in a disaster involving 36 fatalities. That extra body was a particularly unlucky soul named Allen Hagaman, whose cause of death was having the fucking Hindenburg fall on top of him.
#2. You Have a 99 Percent Chance of Surviving a Black Widow Bite
The female Latrodectus, perhaps better known by its stripper name, "black widow," just might be the most feared spider in North America. It's a black latex-wearing fetish artist with a universally recognizable tramp stamp and a reputation for dirty deeds.
All those glossy books in elementary school didn't lie to you: A black widow can kill a human. As such, if a black widow ever bites you, it's a pretty safe bet that you'll be the next one to bite it, so to speak, as well. Right?
But not before you spank it to death with your shoe, obviously.
Actually ...
Not exactly. Even if a black widow manages to pump you full of her poison, her venom has a natural death rate of a whopping "well under 1 percent." That's even less than the danger posed by the anti-venom your hospital would probably not treat you with.
"My professional advice? Stop getting bitten by goddamn spiders."
In short, if a black widow ever bites you, consider it a divorce and not a death sentence. Yes, it's probably going to hit you where it hurts -- this poor kid described it as "excruciating" -- but hey, if you had to choose between a black widow bite and an STD, which would you pick?
Zuh ...
#1. Getting Struck by Lightning Only Kills 10 Percent of Victims
Getting struck by lightning is a lot like winning the lottery, except instead of money, you're winning a zap from God's finger gun. Either way, you're going to wind up looking like a charcoal briquette, right?
After all, we're talking about a blast of energy to the tune of 30,000 amps that heats the air around it up to 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Yet ... you hear freaky stories of people surviving lightning. Here is a video of an old man getting struck by lightning while walking across a street and shaking it off because, screw it, he still had a street to walk across. But that's why stories like that get famous -- because they're rare. Right?
Actually ...
Not really. According to the mad scientists at the National Weather Service, an estimated 400 people got struck by lightning in the U.S. between 2001 and 2010. Out of those 400 unlucky lightning rods, only 40 died as a result. That's a 90 percent chance of survival right on the money, granted with a severe risk of "chronic pain, hypersensitivity, memory lapses and impaired thinking and concentration skills."
"Can you hear the light, too?"
So no, you're not going to enjoy a lightning strike too much, and it might fairly well scramble your brain. But you'll have a hell of a story to tell afterward.
Jacopo is a history nerd who was recently interviewed by Ripley's Believe It or Not! about the great Andrew Jackson Cheese Party of 1837. He also has a new book coming out called The Great Abraham Lincoln Pocket Watch Conspiracy and he is on Twitter.
For situations you won't make it through, check out 6 Deadly Injuries You Think You'd Survive (Thanks to Movies). Or discover the 5 Animals That Are Terrifyingly Hard to Kill.
And stop by LinkSTORM to learn how to stop bullets with your mind. (We don't recommend trying this at all, ever.)
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text:
Solar energy is also an appropriate energy source for use in remote locations. As an example, it is used to power emergency telephones and signs along vast stretches of desert roads.
Scientists at the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) are working on groundbreaking projects to make solar power generation more economically feasible.
Other programs focus on utilizing solar energy for water desalination, agriculture, and the generation of hydrogen. Projected applications for solar energy include using it to power water pumps, refrigerators, air conditioners, heaters and communications equipment, as well as to run pipeline anti-corrosion units in remote areas.


text:
Venezuela's Power Transition in Doubt
CARACAS—Uncertainty is growing here over who will lead Venezuela after Thursday, when an ailing President Hugo Chávez seems increasingly unlikely to be sworn in after being re-elected in October.
Venezuelans have gone nearly a month without hearing or seeing from Mr. Chávez, who the government says is in "delicate" but stable condition at a medical center in Cuba following cancer surgery on Dec. 11.
For the Chávez-led socialist government, which has held power since 1999, the answer is clear: Mr. Chávez won the October elections handily, they say, so he will continue his duties as president without a formal swearing-in ceremony Thursday. That is despite the leader's condition in Havana, with a "severe pulmonary infection."
Vice President Nicolas Maduro, a Chávez loyalist who was tapped by the president to succeed him if he cannot continue his duties, said on live television over the weekend that Mr. Chávez shall "continue his functions and the formality of being sworn in can be resolved later by the Supreme Court."
The opposition, though, is crying foul, saying the court is stacked with pro-Chávez loyalists. They also point to the Venezuelan constitution, which specifies that if an elected leader can't take office on Jan. 10, which it sets as the inauguration date, then new elections must be called within 30 days.
The constitution is less clear, however, about what happens when a president or president-elect is alive, but unable to attend his swearing-in ceremony. Some legal experts say they believe the head of the national legislature, Diosdado Cabello—a Chávez loyalist who was re-elected to a new term on Saturday—would temporarily assume the presidency until he could be sworn in or elections decide a winner. An election would likely pit Mr. Maduro against opposition leader Henrique Capriles.
Still, opposition forces have made no indication yet that they would stand in the way of letting Mr. Chávez remain as president, in sickness or in health.
"The most-asked question is 'What will happen Jan. 10?' " said Luis Vicente León, an analyst who heads the respected polling firm Datanalisis. "The answer: Probably nothing. The status quo will continue."
The reason for this, analysts say, is that opposition leaders don't want to appear as if they are trying to take advantage of Mr. Chávez's health problems to unseat him on a technicality. That could work against them if new elections are held over the coming weeks or months.
Mr. Maduro has already sought to use the opposition's position against it. "They're trying to destabilize the country," he said recently. "They want to create an institutional coup."
What is creating the most tension between Chávez backers and the opposition is the veil of secrecy that remains over the president's health. After being diagnosed with cancer more than a year and half ago and having four surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment, Mr. Chávez has still not revealed what kind of cancer he has. He has said it is in the "pelvic area."
The lack of information has become acute in the weeks following his December surgery. His medical team hasn't spoken, and the updates given on Mr. Chávez's health have been vague. A few days ago the government said the situation was "complicated," while on another day it said the president is "calm and stable," without providing more details.
Ramón Guillermo Aveledo a top opposition official, has demanded the government "tell the truth." A rising chorus of Venezuelans on Twitter and other social media is calling for the government to offer "proof-of-life" for Mr. Chávez, such as a photograph or video.
If Thursday passes without any formal inauguration ceremony, the Supreme Court could take up the case and issue a ruling in the weeks ahead. But analysts say it is unlikely to rule against the government position.
"The courts, and specifically the Supreme Court, are absolutely, unconditionally, without fail, totally faithful to Chávez," said Antonio Canova, a law professor at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.
—Kejal Vyas contributed to this article.
Write to Dan Molinski at email@example.com


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Mexico City was one of the few
instances in the history of this Nation that
the practice of advice, as well as consent,
has been observed in the strict sense,
which was meant by the makers of our
Constitution. The last time of any
importance was in 1846, nearly 100 years
ago. The question of the Oregon
boundary dispute had become a political issue
in the Presidential contest, along with
that of the annexation of Texas. James
K. Polk was elected on a platform which
demanded a settlement epitomized in the
campaign slogan of the Democrats,
"Fifty-four forty or fight." In the
course of the subsequent negotiations
President Polk sought and received in
advance the advice of the full Senate
itself, not upon the matter of
ratification—since there was nothing to ratify—
but upon the formulation in detail of the
treaty which was eventually adopted.
At Mexico City, judging from the
newspaper report to which I have referred,
Members of the Senate were consulted in
advance of the Act of Chapultepec and
aided mightily in the formulation of that
act. We have to go back a hundred
years for a precedent to this historic
proceeding—a proceeding which, as I say,
was envisaged by the Constitution-
makers when they wrote the advice-and-
consent clause into our Constitution.
It seems to me most urgent, Mr. President,
that this body should proceed, in
the near future, to the consideration of
the basic principles of our foreign policy.
The time is drawing near when the great
decisions must be made. Unless some
means is found to clarify beforehand
many of the issues involved in these
decisions, then necessarily, our representatives
will be forced to improvise in the
dark and by guesswork.
For example, there is a common
belief, perhaps a myth, that our people are
anti-British. There are several powerful
newspapers in this country which for
many years have drilled into the minds
of their millions of readers hate and distrust
of the British. The same newspapers
and other papers have done
likewise with regard to the Russians, the
Jews, and, for that matter, all
"furriners," as one governor of a sovereign
State used to put it. I do not believe the
majority of our people, or the majority
of the Senate, subscribes to these narrow
prejudices. However, if these matters
were clearly and reasonably discussed,
along with other matters of similar
importance, I think it would do much to
reassure our allies in the United Nations
and to strengthen the courage of our own
representatives. On the other hand, if
it be true, which I cannot believe, that
we do hate and distrust our allies, then
we and they should know about it. If
these powerful influences in our press
have so far poisoned the minds of our
people that they do not desire to
cooperate positively and concretely with our
allies, then an entirely different policy
from that now proposed should be
I think that a thorough examination
on the floor of the Senate of the history
of our relations with Great Britain would
do more than all the treaties in the world
to strengthen our relations. The American
people should be told by their
Senators why it is that twice in 25 years we
have been drawn into a war on the side
of Britain and France and Russia. Upon
examination it might appear that we
have entered both these wars for excellent
and compelling reasons rather than
because of the trickery and ambition of
the British, as the Chicago Tribune would
have us believe. It may be that we
entered these wars because it was the only
possible way to preserve our very freedom
and independence, about which even the
Tribune professes concern. It could be
that we were influenced by the fact that
our basic institutions, our common law,
our ideas of justice, and the dignity of
the individual human being were derived
to a great extent from the British, the
French, the Greeks, and the Jews. It
might be that the fact we are a Christian
people influenced us when it was a choice
between subservience, if not slavery, to
the ruthless paganism of the Germans,
or war in support of other Christian
peoples. The similarity of the moral
standards of our peoples, the love of
family, the regard for contractual obligations,
the abhorrence of torture and
persecution, the distrust of a tyrannical
and oppressive government—all of these
considerations may have led us instinctively
to the making of these decisions.
If it be true that reasons of this character
did and do exist, then we should
acknowledge them in order that a definite
policy based upon sound and true
consideration be firmly adopted. These
things do not happen just by chance.
There surely are good reasons, and all
of us and all the people should know them.
Further, it should be made clear to
our people that in entering an
international organization we are doing so not
because of charity or because we love
the British, the French, the Chinese, or
the Russians. If there is reason for doing
it, it is because it is for our own national
self-interest. We have more to lose from
chaos and more to gain from the pursuits
of peace than any other people.
We must recognize from the outset that
to make such an organization work will
require our best brains, much patience,
and much of our worldly goods. We
must be convinced, however, that it will
require less of all of these things to make
peace than to have another war, or it
obviously would not be a good bargain.
Mr. President, I believe that the
American people are profoundly interested,
and I know that I am deeply interested,
in understanding the what and the why
of our foreign policy, if any. Since I
have been a Member of this body, relatively
little time has been spent upon
this subject. In the hope that I may
promote discussions and criticisms, out
of which better understanding may
evolve, I am venturing a few observations.
During the past several years I have
heard various people say that we have
had no recognizable foreign policy. I
am inclined to agree. By policy is meant
"a settled or definite course or plan
adopted or followed by the Government."
To be definite and settled is of
the essence of policy. To be definite the
men responsible for carrying out a
policy must know what they are doing and
why they are doing it, or it is not
definite. To be settled this knowledge must
flow from a responsible source, in our
case the people of this country, or it
cannot be settled.
Prior to the First World War, in spite
of some wavering from time to time, our
policy was that of isolation. It was
settled and definite. It was justified by the
remoteness of our land from comparable
great powers and was in accord with the
wishes of our people. Our ancestors had
come here with the express purpose of
getting away from the oppression and
disturbances of the Old World. The First
World War unsettled that policy.
President Wilson and others sensed the fact
that isolation had become in fact
impossible, but they were unable to
control the Government. The habits and
prejudices of more than a century were
too strong, even for the obvious
implications of modern science, as exemplified
by the motor car, the airplane, and the
radio. The abortive effort of Wilson to
adjust our policy to the new conditions
of the world, by means of the League of
Nations, left our people divided and
unable to agree upon any policy. We knew
neither what we were doing nor why.
Instead of having a policy, we improvised
upon considerations of the moment.
We declined to join the League and
use our power and influence collectively,
to establish order and peace. On the
other hand we participated in
disarmament conferences and proceeded to
weaken our armed forces. We had
neither force, nor collective security, to
protect us. At the peace conference we
insisted upon further fragmentation of
an already chaotic political structure and
at the same time refused to erect any
responsible authority to protect our
handiwork. We insisted upon the
collection of war debts and at the same
time erected tariff barriers which made
such payment impossible. We made
pious declarations against war in the
Kellogg Pact and yet did nothing
concrete when Manchuria and Ethiopia were
invaded. Our Ambassadors reported
preparations for war in Germany and
Japan long before 19S9, yet we continued
to sell materials of war. We passed a
neutrality act which was more to the
benefit of our enemies than our friends;
and so, not long thereafter, we had
to transfer 50 destroyers to Great Britain.
If there was anything definite or settled
about our course of conduct, I am unable t
o see it.
Our floundering and purposeless
conduct during this period was due, I
be¬lieve, to the fact that, as a nation, we
did not understand our proper role in the
world and had failed to examine and
agree upon certain basic convictions
which are essential to any policy.
Although we had done more than any
other nation to develop the scientific
technology which destroyed our
isolation, we refused to acknowledge the
result. We were unable to disentangle our
prejudices and superficial dislikes from
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text:
Fancy Formatting, Fancy Words = Looks Like a Promotion = Ignored
Summary: A site did most things right, but still had a miserable 14% success rate for its most important task. The reason? Users ignored a key area because it resembled a promotion.
Putting the answer to a typical user's main question in big red type at the top of your homepage would guarantee high usability, right? Wrong — at least for the U.S. Census Bureau's homepage, where 86% of users failed to find the country's current population when it was presented in large red numbers.
Homepage for www.census.gov, as tested.
In a reduced screenshot, the population count is the only information that's clearly readable, so it makes the task easier than it is in real life. On the actual site, users often ignored the big red characters.
The following heatmap from one of our eyetracking studies shows how users looked at this homepage. Their task was to find the current population of the United States.
The areas users looked at the most are colored red;
the yellow areas indicate fewer views, followed by the least-viewed blue areas.
Gray areas didn't attract any fixations.
At first, the heatmap seems fine:
- users scanned the main parts of the page,
- the categorization of the main content area worked particularly well, and
- users gave considerable attention to the Population Clock and the Population Finder.
On closer inspection, however, it's clear that users only fixated on the first third of the number that shows current population. In other words, people scanned that area, but didn't actually read the number. (Only a small percentage — as indicated by blue coloring — looked at the last 2/3 of the number.)
Where People Looked
As the following pie chart shows, only 14% of participants used the Population Clock to answer the question. None of the remaining users found the correct answer, though most did find the population for an earlier year somewhere inside the site.
How users reacted to the Population Clock in the upper right of the Census homepage.
Only 14% of test participants used this feature when asked to find the current population.
Most people saw the feature, but didn't use it to complete the task.
Although it's not the major reason this homepage design failed, banner blindness does play a role here. Users tend to ignore heavily formatted areas because they look like advertisements. Thus, about 1/3 of users never even saw the Population Clock. However, most people did fixate on this area because it's not as overly formatted as most promotional features. So, most users saw the Population Clock; they just didn't use it, even though it contained the exact information they were looking for.
Beyond banner blindness, the major reason this homepage failed is that it used made-up terms or branded descriptions rather than plain-spoken words. Terms like "Population Clock," "Population Finder," and "QuickFacts" are not as descriptive as a simple line of text that says:
Population of the United States: 302,740,627 (as of Aug. 31, 2007)
Search-Dominant Users and Other Behaviors
The heatmap above is averaged across users, so it's not the best way to analyze the Census homepage's usability. In this case, there were 4 distinct user behaviors at play, and we need to analyze each separately.
The following gaze plots show examples of the 4 main classes of user behavior:
Each gaze plot shows one user's eye movements:
each blue dot is a fixation, with bigger dots indicating longer periods of looking.
Plot A shows a classic search-dominant user. This user looked around the page briefly and then went straight to search. This was the predominant behavior in this study, accounting for 57% of users. The specific user shown in gaze plot A didn't look at the Population Clock at all; other search-dominant users had a few fixations in that area, but quickly abandoned it in their dash for the search box.
(Note that even this very search-dominant user took a quick look at all the other parts of the page — such as the left-hand navbar and the main content categories — but never looked at the right column with the ad-like areas. The user also stopped scanning the navbar when it turned into a graphical promotion and stopped scanning the content categories above the banner promoting a new survey. Banner blindness in action.)
- Plot B shows a navigation-dominant user. This user looked at the navigation options — both in the center of the page and down the left-hand navbar — before clicking on the most promising link. Navigation-dominance was a rare behavior in this study; it's more common on sites that don't feature homepage tools, such as those that attracted users in plots C and D.
- Plot C shows a tool-dominant user attracted to the drop-down menus and type-in fields of the Population Finder. Many sites don't have such interactive features, but when they do exist, they tend to attract a good proportion of users: people like parts of websites where they can do something and thus feel in control (even though they often fail, because of poor application usability).
Plot D shows a successful user who found and used the Population Clock to answer the question. This specific user was actually a search-dominant user, as indicated by the many early fixations in the search area. However, just before searching, the user was drawn to the Population Clock screen area and gradually engaged with it enough to realize that it contained the answer, freeing the user from having to search.
(Also note the long fixation on the "Census 2000" logo in the upper left of the content area: many users considered — or even clicked — this option, but of course it led to numbers that were 7 years out of date.)
Sadly, in this case, neither search, nor navigation, nor the Population Finder led the majority of users to the correct answer. Indeed, search was particularly bad on this site. One user said, "I know where I can probably find it faster: Google," and promptly abandoned the official Census Bureau site's own search. (In fact, she did find a reasonable — though less accurate — answer on another site using an external search.)
Although most users found some population number, whether from 2000, 2005, or 2006, it wasn't the current number. As one might expect from the Census Bureau, the site was rife with population statistics. The problem was that the outdated statistics weren't supplemented with links to the current numbers, violating the guideline to situate follow-ups in context.
Conflicting Usability Guidelines?
The Internet manager in charge of this losing design might defend the work by pointing out that it complies with #4 of my top-10 guidelines for homepage design: Offer a clear starting point for the main tasks users will undertake when visiting the site. Clearly, something was done right, with a task analysis that concluded that it would be a primary goal of visitors to this site to identify the current population of the United States and to have an easy way to find the populations of individual states and cities.
Even better, the site follows several recommendations from the full list of published homepage usability guidelines:
- Guideline #4: Emphasize the highest priority tasks so that users have a clear starting point.
- Guideline #29: Use examples to reveal the site's content. Rather than just describing what the site offers, the Census homepage states the actual population number. Juicy content for this type of site.
- Guideline #53: Offer tools for high-priority tasks directly on the homepage. The Population Finder is exactly such a tool, and obviously attracted users. (We also asked people to find the population of Texas, and the success rate was much higher for this task.)
(This site does many other things right; here I'm listing only those guidelines directly related to finding the population number.)
Despite obeying so many usability guidelines, the site has the miserably low success rate of 14% for its most important task. The site fails users because it violates several other guidelines for homepage usability:
- Guideline #19: Don't use clever phrases and marketing lingo.
- Guideline #63: Limit font styles and other text formatting.
- Guideline #91: Don't look like an ad.
So what good are usability guidelines if — as this example seems to show — they are always in conflict?
Actually, the guidelines don't contradict each other when it comes to the Census homepage. (Sometimes we do have conflicting guidelines, as in the matter of intranet staff directories. That's why we call them guidelines: because they aren't always firm and sometimes require interpretation or, in rare cases, deviation.)
In this case, though, it's possible to feature the high-priority tasks, show the main number directly on the homepage, and have a tool for the rest without using marketing-style terms, heavy formatting, and otherwise making the important area look like an ad or a promotion. That is, the designer could have followed all 6 guidelines simultaneously.
In many studies of corporate and e-commerce sites, we observe users ignoring the very page sections that have the most business value because the site is selling them too hard. Learn from the Census Bureau's mistake: try a softer approach with more straightforward, user-centered information. Let go of the fancy formatting and the fancy words.
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