all incredible world: 2012

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Interesting food facts


 Floating Eggs
Fascinating Fact: When an egg floats in water, it is “off” and should not be eaten.
As eggs age, gases build up inside the shell making it more buoyant. This is the best way to test whether an egg has gone rotten without having to break open the shell, risking the foul odor escaping. When an egg is extremely fresh it will lie on its side at the bottom of a glass of water. As it ages, the egg will begin to point upwards, and will finally float completely when it has gone bad. Fresh eggs have a very firm white, whilst old eggs have a very watery white. This is why it is best to use the freshest eggs possible for poaching and frying.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Robbed of a Nobel Prize


To win a Nobel Prize is the ultimate accolade for a scientist. However, the Nobel prizes have rules which sometimes lead to people being overlooked for a prize: prizes may only be awarded to those still alive at the time of awarding, and no more than three people can share any one prize. This has led to some scientists, who many feel have contributed significantly to their field, never receiving a Nobel Prize. Of course, this list is highly subjective but I hope I can make good cases that the following were all deserving of a Nobel Prize.
Ralph Steinman
awarded Nobel after his death

Half of the Nobel Prize for Medicine this year was awarded to Ralph Steinman for his discovery of the role of dendritic cells in adaptive immunity. These cells help regulate the body’s immune response by capturing and presenting antigens from pathogens to white blood cells. They also stop the body from erroneously recognizing itself as a pathogen. This work has had, and will continue

Friday, May 4, 2012

Saving thousands on your bills


Rent
Perhaps the most controversial item on this list is the Rent vs Mortgage argument. In a lot of cases, renting can be as low cost as getting a mortgage and comes with a number of benefits. Firstly, you won’t owe £150,000 to be payable over 40 years! This means these debts wont be passed on to your next of kin should you die before you pay for the house. Renting means you can move to a larger or cheaper place as and when you like – or to a new area altogether. House maintenance should be taken care of by your landlord, and even some utility bills may be thrown into the price. If you fail to keep up your mortgage repayments, the banks will move pretty swiftly to boot you out, but many rental agencies or private landlords

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The worst plagues in history


 Great Plague of Marseille
1720 – 1722
The Great Plague of Marseille was one of the most significant European outbreaks of bubonic plague in the early 18th century. Arriving in Marseille, France in 1720, the disease killed 100,000 people in the city and the surrounding provinces. However, Marseille recovered quickly from the plague outbreak. Economic activity took only a few years to recover, as trade expanded to the West Indies and Latin America. By 1765, the growing population was back at its pre-1720 level. This epidemic was not a recurrence of the

Some serial killers


Bobby Joe Long
Bobby Joe Long, a distant cousin of Henry Lee Lucas, viciously raped and murdered at least nine women from May 1984 to November 1984 in Tampa, Florida. He was born October 14, 1953, in Kenova, West Virginia. While he was quite young his mother left his father and took Bobby Joe to Tampa, Florida. They moved around Tampa frequently, staying with relatives or in rented rooms. He and his mother slept in the same bed until he was 13. His mother tended to be overly protective and dramatic, but still Bobby Joe Long managed to suffer a series of severe head injuries beginning at age five, when he was knocked unconscious in a fall from a swing and had one eyelid skewered by a stick. At 6 he was thrown from his bicycle, crashing headfirst into a parked car, with injuries including loss of several teeth and a severe concussion. At age 7, he

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Interesting facts about slavery


The Bible and Slavery
The Bible does not expressly condone or forbid slavery. In the New Testament, Jesus heals a slave and commends his owner for his faith. He does not take the time to condemn the slave owner for having a slave, nor at any point does he try to suggest that slavery is wrong. Saint Paul said this to slave owners: “Do not threaten [your slaves], since you know that He who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no favoritism with Him” (Ephesians 6:9). The Old Testament goes a little further and reminds people to treat their slaves well. The most likely reason for this apparent moral discrepancy is that the Bible was penned at a

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Smart celebrities


  Asia Carrera
Star of over 250 hardcore adult movies, Carrera has an IQ of 156. Before her successful porn career, at the age of 13 she played piano at Carnegie Hall and later attended Rutgers University.

 Myles Jeffrey

Friday, April 27, 2012

The human reflexes


Prisoner’s Cinema
The Prisoner’s Cinema is a phenomenon reported by people kept in total darkness, especially prisoners confined to dark cells for a long period of time. The sensation has been reported by truck drivers, pilots, and practitioners of intense meditation. Astronauts have also experienced a similar occurrence in space. The light show usually includes various colors and appears out of total darkness. The lights are said to have a succinct form, which is difficult to describe. The lights often transform into human form. Scientists believe the cinema is a result of phosphenes combined with the psychological effects of prolonged exposure to darkness.
A phosphene is a phenomenon characterized by the experience of seeing light without light actually entering the eye. In 1970, a scientist named Oster hypothesized in Scientific American that the prisoner’s cinema may be the cause of some “ghost” sightings. Others have noted a

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Great facts that are wrong


  Elevator Freefall
False Fact: Elevators have killed or can kill when their cable snapped
There is a small element of truth to this “fact” – but we will get to that soon. Firstly, elevators usually have a minimum of four operating cables, as well as an inbuilt braking system and a backup braking system in the shaft which forces a wedge into the shaft to prevent too rapid a drop. If the cables were all to snap (and believe me, elevator cables are strong), the cars braking system would detect the free fall and automatically apply. If that also fails, the shaft’s braking system takes over. Now, the small element of truth I mentioned

Monday, April 23, 2012

Highest paid tennis players


  Maria Sharapova
The beautiful Russian has made some great deals and became one of the top paid with 26millions in her pocket.

 Rafael Nadal

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Most weird time capsules



 Time Capsule Expo 1970
In 1968 two Japanese companies, Panasonic Corporation and The Mainichi Newspapers, agreed to undertake a joint time capsule project in celebration of the Japan World Exposition 1970. Two time capsules identical in every detail were buried adjacent to Osaka Castle. The lower capsule will remain buried for 5,000 years. The upper capsule (A control capsule) was opened in 2000 to examine the condition of its contents. After undergoing laboratory testing it was reburied and will be opened every 100 years thereafter so that the latest preservation techniques can be used to ensure their safekeeping. The 2,090 items

Thursday, April 19, 2012

World's most expensive movies


One of the best entertainment media is the silver screen. It has been around for over a century now and still remains to be one of the best sources of interacting with the fantasy world in the most realistic manner.
Considering the high-tech technology used in movies these days, we have compiled a list of  most expensive movies ever made.
These include only those movies which have already been released, hence no movie that is still in the production process is included in the list.

 Spider-Man 3

With a budget of 258 million dollars, Spider man 3 is on number two in our list. The movie was released in May 2007 and it generated approx 890 million dollars.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Unbelievable misconceptions about cancer



Surgery Dangers
Misconception: Surgery could cause cancer to spread throughout the body.
This myth probably originated decades before, when physicians could only diagnose the most advanced stages of cancer and surgeries were exploratory. Cancer treatment was still pretty rudimentary and without modern machinery, there was no way to fully determine if every cancerous cell was removed. Equipment has vastly improved since then and can provide a much clearer picture of what needs to be done during surgery.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Most strange coincidences


 Golden Scarab
From The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche: “A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window-pane from outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to the golden scarab that one finds in our latitudes, a

Last pictures taken



 John and Jackie Knill
On January 13, 2005 the bodies of Canadian couple John and Jackie Knill were discovered on a Thailand beach resort. They were two of the many victims killed from the December 26 2004 tsunami. Weeks later a Seattle man doing relief work found a damaged camera and discarded it but kept the memory card in the camera. After downloading the images he discovered pictures of the Knill’s enjoying their vacation, as well as shots of a huge wave approaching the shore. With each picture it shows the wave getting closer and closer to shore. The last picture taken of them before the wave hit (shown above) was shot just after 8.30 am on December 26.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Bizarre places to get married


 Underwater Wedding
Ah sometimes marriage can be sink or swim, for some its sink, swim and scuba. But forget just getting married while you scuba dive, how about staying in an underwater hotel.
You can make it all happen at the Jules Undersea Lodge where you can make your underwater adventure come true. For a mere 1750.00 plus tax you can have this lodge all to yourself and even stay there for the honeymoon. Guests scuba dive to the underwater lodge and have plenty of room to relax with two bedrooms, dining area, kitchen and living area. The lodge is located in Key Largo Florida and is 21 feet underwater.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Bizarre relationships


Pope Pius IX
Relationship: Pope and kidnapped son
On the evening of 23 June 1858, in Bologna, then part of the Papal States, police arrived at the home of a Jewish couple, Salomone (”Momolo”) and Marianna Padovani Mortara, to seize one of their eight children, six-year-old Edgardo, and transport him to Rome to be raised as a ward of the state. The police had orders from Holy Office authorities in Rome, authorized by Pope Pius IX. Church officials had been told that a 14-year-old Catholic servant girl of the Mortaras, Anna Morisi, had baptized Edgardo while he was ill because she feared that he would otherwise die and go to Hell. Acorrding to Catholic Church doctrine, Edgardo’s baptism, even if illicit under canon law, was valid and made him a Christian. At the time, non-Christians could not raise a Christian child, even their own. Edgardo was taken to a house for Catholic converts in

Most weird mammals


 Lesser Grison
Galictis cuja
A little-known carnivore found in Patagonia and neighbouring South American countries. About 30 cm long, with black and grey fur, they look a bit like otters but are more like stoats or martens. In Peru they were once domesticated like ferrets, where they were used to hunt chinchillas.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

World's fastest things


The fastest land animal in the world, the cheetah is a marvel of evolution. Capable of running up to 70 miles per hour, the cheetah’s slender, long-legged body is built for speed. Its spotted coat, small head and ears, and distinctive “tear stripes” from the corner of the eyes down the sides of the nose make the cheetah highly recognizable among the large cats of Africa. 

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Weird sharks


 Cookiecutter Shark
The cookiecutter shark is a small, rarely-seen dogfish shark. It is the smallest shark on this list but its unusual eating habits earn it a place. The cookiecutter shark derived its name from its habit of removing small circular plugs (like cookie cutters) of flesh and skin from cetaceans and large fish, including other sharks. It is hypothesized that the shark attaches to its much larger prey with its suctorial lips and modified pharynx, then rotates its body to achieve a highly symmetrical cut. They are considered parasites, with hosts such as the Megamouth shark. Cookiecutters seem to be attracted to undersea electrical cables, and one may find round bite marks in them. There has been one suspected attack on a human.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Beautiful recently extinct animals


 Pyrenean Ibex
The Pyrenean Ibex has one of the more interesting stories among extinct animals, since it was the first species to ever be brought back into existence via cloning, only to go extinct again just seven minutes after being born due to lung failure. The Pyrenean Ibex was native to the Pyrenees, a mountain range in Andorra, France and Spain. The Pyrenean ibex was still abundant in the fourteenth century (Day 1981). The Pyrenean ibex’s population declined due to a “slow but continuous persecution” and disappeared from the French Pyrenees and the eastern Cantabrian mountain range by the mid-nineteenth century. Its situation has been critical since the beginning of the 20th century, when it was estimated that the Pyrenean population in Spain numbered only about 100 individuals. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the population never rose above 40 individuals. In 1981, the population was reported to be 30. At the end of the 1980′s the population size was estimated at 6-14 individuals. The last naturally born Pyrenean Ibex, named Celia, died on January 6th, 2000, after being found dead under a fallen tree at the age of 13. That animal’s only companion had died just a year earlier due to old age.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Central Bank of Iraq


18th March 2003- Baghdad, Iraq: $1 billion. Some robberies require careful planning. Others use brute force. But the largest in history was as simple was it was effective. Saddam Hussein treated Iraq as his own personal fiefdom, so it’s no surprise that he would feel that the Central Bank of Iraq was his personal bank account. The day before Coalition forces began bombing Iraq, he sent his son Qusay to make a withdrawal on his behalf with a handwritten note. Qusay oversaw the withdrawal of boxes stuffed with $100 bills in a five-hour operation which netted the dictator about $1 billion in US dollars. It didn’t get him very far, as he was caught sometime later hiding in a hole in the ground whilst his son was killed by US forces. Approximately $650 million was later found by US troops hidden in the walls of one of his palace’s, though the remaining $350 million has never been recovered and is considered lost.

City Bonds Robbery


2nd May 1990- London, UK: £292 million. John Goddard was a 58 year old messenger working for broker Sheppards, who was mugged whilst carrying a briefcase on a quiet London side street. However, the contents of that briefcase contained £292 million in bearer bonds. Goddard was delivering Bank of England Treasury bills from banks and building societies. Due to the nature of bearer bonds, whoever is carrying them is deemed the owner. They are as good as cash. He was held at knifepoint, whilst his assailant made off with 301 Treasury bills, most valued at £1 million each. Keith Cheeseman was arrested in connection to the crime and received a 6 and a half year sentence. Police believe that the mugging was carried out by Patrick Thomas, but he was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head before he could be charged. All but 2 of the bonds were recovered after police and the FBI infiltrated the gang responsible. It’s amazing that the second largest robbery in history was carried out by a low level thief brandishing only a knife on an insignificant back street.

Incredible Boston Museum Robbery


18th March 1990- Boston, USA: $300 million. Number 3 on our list is also considered the biggest art heist in history. Two men dressed as police officers convinced 2 inexperienced security guards at the Gardner Museum that they were responding to a disturbance. Contrary to museum policy, the 2 guards let the “officers” into the premises, where they quickly learned that they had been duped after being handcuffed by the men in the basement. Amazingly, the 2 men managed to do this despite having no visible weapons whatsoever. The men spent the next 81 minutes calmly selecting 12 pieces of art with a combined value of over $300 million, and this was 20 years ago. Among the paintings stolen were 3 Rembrandt’s and a Vermeer. The two then took the surveillance tapes and departed, never to be heard from again, though in 1994 an offer was made to return the paintings for $2.6 million and immunity from prosecution, but the writer was never heard from again. The men appear to possibly be amateurs, as they made no effort to avoid damaging the paintings and left even more valuable works behind. The case has never been solved and there is a $5 million reward for any information pertaining to the return of the artworks. Also, authorities have announced that they will not prosecute anyone who has the paintings and offers to return them.


Baghdad Bank Robbery


12th July 2007- Baghdad, Iraq: $282 million. Employees of the Dar Es Salaam bank showed up to work one morning to find that the doors were unlocked, the vault open, and all the money was gone. It is believed that 3 guards at the bank made off with a staggering $282 million in this whopping haul. Yes, more than a quarter of a billion dollars! That’s more money than the entire economies of some small countries. It is unclear why the bank had such a large amount of cash on hand, but it was all in US currency. It is suspected that the guards had the assistance of militias, to avoid detection at security checkpoints around Baghdad, as having a lazy $282 million in the boot of your car might raise suspicions. No one has been brought to justice for this brazen crime and none of the money has been recovered. The robbery received surprisingly little media coverage.


Knightsbridge Security Deposit


12th July 1987-UK: £60 million. Valerio Viccei migrated to the UK from Italy in 1986, where he was wanted for over 50 armed robberies. He decided to continue his successful trade in his new homeland, where he and an accomplice entered the Knightsbridge Safe Deposit Centre and asked to rent a Safe Deposit Box. After being led into the vault, they subdued the manager and the guards. Valerio hung a sign outside stating that the Deposit was temporarily closed to deter more customers, and then went about letting in more accomplices. The gang then plundered the safe deposit boxes at will and netted an estimated £60 million, which translates approximately into a whopping $174 million in today’s money. The police were not alerted until an hour after the robbery, giving the team plenty of time to flee the scene. Valerio fled to Latin America whilst his accomplices were arrested, then foolishly returned to England sometime later to retrieve his beloved Ferrari, where he was subsequently caught. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison. One would think that with the better part of $174 million, you would just buy another Ferrari. Or two. He was killed in 2000 while on day release in Italy, as a result of a gunfight with police.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Mars/Earth Connection


When talking about life on other planets, some say we need go no further than our own solar system. Mars has always been thought to harbor life by many conspiracy theorists, saying that NASA is covering it up. Many photos have also called into question civilization on Mars, such as the face on Mars, Pyramids on Mars, and photo of what appears to be an ape like figure sitting on a rock on Mars. While scientists have come out to debunk these photos, they have also admitted that they believe liquid oceans once covered the surface of Mars before its magnetic field disappeared. Is it possible that life did indeed once exist? The current missions to Mars hopes to answer this question.

Dark Matter

Albert Einstein’s equation E = MC^2 is perhaps the best known equation of the century. However when applied to space, an anomaly occurs. When we use it to determine how much matter the universe should have, we realize that we have only found four percent of the matter in the universe! Where is the rest of it? Many believe it is in the form of dark matter. Where is this dark matter? It’s everywhere,  wherever there is no visible matter. Scientists have yet to show any conclusive proof that dark matter does in fact exist. The fact that you can’t see it, touch it, and light and radio waves pass right through it undeterred makes it extremely hard to detect.

Are there Other Universes?

This is one of the more controversial arguments out there. The theory is that there are an infinite number of universes, each which is governed by its own set of laws and physics. Many scientists dismiss this argument as nothing more than speculation, as there is no evidence or mathematical law that allows for the existence of other universes. However, believers in this theory have argued that there are none that disprove it either. This is one mystery which can only be solved if we were able to travel there, however, with the expansion of the universe, it is unlikely humanity will ever find the answer.


Other Earths

Our star, the sun, is just one of trillions in the universe. When you look at the fact that our star has eight planets, and do the math, it tells you that it is possible for there to be eight times as many planets in the universe than stars; an astounding figure. Is it not possible that just one of those planets might have life on it? It is a fact that, since the year 2000, hundreds of extra solar planets have been discovered orbiting distant stars. Some of these have found to be earth- like, such as the planet Gliese 581d, a planet believed to have liquid water on its surface. Could it possibly contain life? Hopefully with advances in technology in the next decade, we will soon know the answer. Till then, it remains one of space’s greatest mysteries.


Where did galaxies come from?

Science has only recently been able to explain where the stars and planets came from. Now, scientists have turned their attention to a much bigger mystery, where did galaxies come from? What is known is that galaxies are not scattered randomly throughout space, rather they are found in clusters, known as “super clusters”. Scientists have two main theories to attempt to explain galaxy formation. First, the gas left over from the big bang clustered together to form galaxies, in which stars and planets were born. Second is that gas from the big bang created stars and planets all over the universe, and they migrated through gravity into galaxies. Neither theory has been universally accepted yet.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

One of the greatest composers in history

Disability: Deaf
Beethoven is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in history. He gave his first public performance as a pianist when he was only 8 years old. He studied in Vienna under the guidance of Mozart. By his mid-twenties he had earned a name for himself as a great pianist known for unpredictable and brilliant improvisations. In the year 1796 Beethoven began losing his hearing. In spite of his illness he immersed himself in his work and created some of the greatest works of music. Beethoven’s finest works are also the finest works of their kind in music history: the 9th Symphony, the 5th Piano Concerto, the Violin Concerto, the Late Quartets, and his Missa Solemnis. And he achieved all this despite being completely deaf for the last 25 years or so of his life.

Greatest painters the world has ever seen

Disability: Mental Illness
Vincent Van Gogh was a Dutch Painter and is regarded as one of the greatest painters the world has ever seen. His paintings have immensely contributed to the foundations of modern art. In his 10 year painting career he produced 900 painting and 1100 drawings. Some of his paintings today are the most expensive: Irises was sold for $53.9 Million and Portrait of Doctor Gachet was sold for $82.5 Million. Vincent Van Gogh suffered depression, and in 1889 was admitted to a psychiatric hospital. His depression worsened over time and on July 27, 1890 at the age of 37 Van Gogh shot himself in the chest. He died two days later. His last words were “the sadness will last forever”.


blind paralympian to compete in the Olympic games

Disability: Blind
At the age of nine, Runyan developed Stargardt’s Disease, which is a form of macular degeneration that left her legally blind. Marla Runyan is a three time national champion in the women’s 5000 meters. She won four gold medals in the 1992 summer Paralympics. In the 1996 Paralympics she won silver in the shot put and gold in the Pentathlon. In 2000 she became the first legally blind paralympian to compete in the Olympic games in Sydney, Australia. She holds various American records such as 20,000 Road (2003), All-female Marathon (2002), 500m (2001) , Heptathlon (1996). In 2001, she co-wrote and published her autobiography ‘No Finish Line: My Life As I See It’


Sudha Chandran honored with numerous awards


Disability: Amputee
Sudha Chandran was born to family in Chennai, South India. She completed her Masters in Economics from Mumbai. On one of her return trips from Mumbai to Chennai she met with an accident resulting in the amputation of her right leg. She was given an artificial leg and despite this terrible disability, she became one of the most accomplished and acclaimed dancers of the Indian Subcontinent. She has received and still receives invitations to perform all over the world. She has been honored with numerous awards and has performed all over the world. She appears often on Hindi television and in films.

In Paris, lovers fix padlocks

In Paris, lovers fix padlocks to the railings of the Pont des Arts bridge.  Passerelle des Arts, dating since 1803, is the city’s first iron bridge, situated close to the heart of France next to the prestigious Academy of Arts and Letters.



Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Incredible love on the Rhine

Like in many other places, thousands and thousands of love locks are fixed by people who love each other. This time, onto a fence on a train bridge. A German custom says that lovers who fix a lock to the fence and throw the key into the river will have their love locked for eternity.


Monday, March 12, 2012

Most world's Geniuses


5. Politics
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus
Runners-up: Alfred the Great, Suarez (theoretical), Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln.
He is, in this lister’s opinion, one of the very few decent leaders in history. He had his personal vices, among them that he was a womanizer who used his power to seduce any woman who took his fancy. There’s a Clinton joke in there somewhere.
But Augustus can be forgiven that sort of thing given that he was never a tyrant, never let his absolute power corrupt him absolutely, and worked tirelessly for some 42 years to make Rome the finest city in the world.
It may already have been the finest, but Augustus managed to make it even better. Consider that he seized power after Rome had been in continual war with itself for 200 years. The city was ripping itself apart by 27 BC, had just gone through the worst of its civil warring: the First Triumvirate, Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus; then the Second, Octavian (Augustus), Marc Antony, and Lepidus, and no one knew who was in charge. Not even the Senate had control. When Augustus proclaimed himself Emperor, all the bickering stopped. He very quickly made everyone love him.
His rule cemented the Pax Romana, a time from c. 130 BC to c. 180 AD, during which the Roman Republic/Empire was invincible, and no foreign power dared challenge it. Augustus showed up in the middle of it, when, right after that Second Triumvirate and civil war, the entire state was in danger of imminent collapse from within. Augustus pulled it all back up and held it together. He instituted Rome’s first official fire

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Most Stupid Moves


5. Quaker Oats
Mistake: Insufficient Diligence on Due Diligence
In the 1990’s Quaker Oat Company was rolling in profits from their dry foodstuffs business, so they branched out and acquired the Gatorade sports drink franchise from Stokley. Flush with that success, they later acquired trendy bottled tea maker Snapple for $1.7 billion in a leveraged buyout. To their horror, Quaker soon learned that unlike all their other products—including Gatorade– Snapple beverages required refrigeration. A panic inventory revealed that Quaker had a shining fleet of exactly zero refrigerated vehicles to distribute Snapple. Distribution companies learned this and priced accordingly; robbing Snapple of funds badly needed for marketing and R&D. Triarc eventually bought the failing Snapple business from Quaker for $300 million. “In retrospect,” said one Quaker executive on the merger, “we should have had someone arguing the “no” side.”
Source: “Triarc to buy Failing Snapple Business from Quaker Oats for $300M”, Oklahoma Journal Record, April 3, 1997 AND “The Dumbest Moments in Business History: Useless Products, Ruinous Deals, Clueless Bosses, and Other Signs of Unintelligent Life in the Workplace” by Adam Horowitz.
4. AdPro/Merit Industries
Mistake: Subcontracting the Illiterate
For their 2002 Martin Luther King Day celebration, the Lauderville, FL Chamber of Commerce invited actor James Earl Jones to appear as a featured speaker. As thanks, they commissioned a plaque featuring African Americans from the US Black Heritage postage stamp series. Too bad they went to local promotions company AdPro Specialties, who subcontracted the job to Texas-based Merit Industries. Merit faxed AdPro a list of 15 African American stamps to choose from, and promised to handle all the details. Four days before the celebration, AdPro received the Black Heritage plaque, and were stunned to see that the plaque thanked not James Earl Jones, but James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King’s ASSASSIN. Merit blamed its near-illiterate employees for bungling a rush job, while AdPro repaired the plaque locally. When he heard about the mix-up, Mr. Jones was supremely gracious and said “I think we have much bigger things to worry about.”
3. Schwinn Bicycle
Mistake: Non-compete clause? We don’t need no stinkin’…
Faced with striking workers at its Chicago factory, Schwinn suits outsourced manufacturing to Taiwan, choosing the aptly-named Giant Bicycle Company to fill the demand. And there is simply no better example of letting the fox guard the henhouse. Since bicycles are a simple technology, labor is the highest cost, and Giant’s Taiwanese workers are the cheapest anywhere. Giant to this day builds 90% of all bikes in the world at the same factory, often storing finished units of competing brands side-by-side. For Schwinn, the Giant outsourcing worked so well that when the strike ended, they continued outsourcing and didn’t upgrade domestic factories. Too bad they didn’t get a “non-compete” clause. Giant learned everything about Schwinn bikes and then some: they soon realized they were the tail wagging the dog. So Giant covertly sent sales reps to every Schwinn dealer in the US with the following sales pitch, in its entirety: “We know you like Schwinn, but we make Schwinn and we’ll charge you 30% less.” Schwinn dealers baled and a panicked Schwinn proposed a joint Schwinn-Giant brand, while pursuing a separate manufacturing deal with a Chinese manufacturer. But all leverage was gone– at the time of the offer, Giant was already selling 300,000 bikes a year under its own name. Schwinn declared bankruptcy in 1991, and today the brand is a shell of what it once was. Giant continues its uncontested reign as the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world.
Source: “No Hands, The Rise and Fall of the Schwinn Bicycle Company, An American Institution”, by Judith Crown and Glenn Coleman, 1996
2. Northwest Airlines
Mistake: HR’s Guide to the Employment-Challenged
In July, 2006 bankrupt Northwest Airlines laid off thousands of ground workers, cushioning the blow with the handy guidebook “101 Ways to Save Money.” Stashed in the dreaded layoff packet, this booklet included shameful tips such as “Don’t be shy about pulling something you like out of the trash”. Other tips focused on homemade baby food and using newspapers for cat litter. The best had to be “take long walks in the woods as a low-cost dating alternative” (don’t worry; your blind date won’t think you’re a serial killer. She’ll think you’re a CHEAP serial killer). Northwest pulled the offending booklet soon after the public got wind of it.
1. Washington Agricultural Commission
Mistake: Everybody loves a Gimme Cap, Right?
A Washington State agriculture official touring China in 2000 handed out bright green baseball caps at every stop but never noticed that none of the men would put them on, or that all the women were giggling hysterically. Why? Well, in some dialects of Chinese the words “green hat” sounds like very much like “cuckold”. Thus, legend holds that if you wear a green hat, it means that your wife has cheated on you, and if you give a man a green hat, it means that you have had sex with his wife. Pretty much defines “awkward”, wouldn’t you say? The Chinese delegation was very polite, and finally someone took the agricultural commissioner aside to clue him in. And the deal? Not much happened.
Source: “Mind Game, Unlocking the Hidden Agenda of the Asian Business Culture- A Westerner’s Survival Manual”, AND “BUSINESS TRAVEL; Beware of Green Hats in China and Other Cross-Cultural Faux Pas”, New York Times, Craig Smith, April 20, 2002.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

kimonos and school uniforms


Japanese fashion has come a long way from being just about kimonos and school uniforms. Their eye-popping and flamboyant outfits have largely been influenced by Japan’s huge underground club scene. Tokyo and Osaka is where Japanese Street Fashion is at its best. By adopting a mixture of current and traditional trends along with foreign and local labels, Japanese youth have created their own uniqueblend of fashion. After viewing that our readers are really enjoying theOld Post about Japanese Street Fashion, we decided to share some more incredible photos of Japanese Street Fashion.

Japanese street fashion

Japanese street fashion has a variety of trends and styles. Youth were more elaborate in their dressing patterns and make-up. Bright colors, eccentric patterns, hand-made garments, heavy jewelry, mixing and matching jeans and tank tops with traditional wear like kimonos, is their way of making statements about their cultural influences and way of life.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Incredibly Painful Rites of Initiation

5. Sepik Scarification
The tribes living along the Sepik river in Papua New Guinea have used the tradition of scarification to mature their boys into men for decades. The ceremony requires the youth to be cut along his back, chest and buttocks in elaborate patterns, to mimic the coarse skin of a crocodile. It is thought that this reptilian divinity consumes his youth during the bloody process, leaving behind a man in his place.
Before he can be treated as a man, though, the boy is subjected to humiliation in a ritual that can take weeks. In fact, the boys are referred to as women and regarded that way in order to psychologically toughen them.
The scarification, parallel to the taunts, strengthens them physically because it requires a vast amount of discipline to go through the ritual, withstanding hundreds of cuts. The raw wounds are cleaned after the scarification is complete, but the pain endured continues for days as their bodies heal.
4. Naghol – Land Diving
In the South Pacific Ocean, on Pentecost Island, tribe members construct a tower 60 to 90 feet (20 to 30 meters) high made from the trees surrounding a clearing. Rocks and wood are removed from the ground and the soil is tilled before the tower is built. The rickety structure is then used as the world’s most extreme form of bungee jumping, with only two vines and faith supporting a diver.
The ritual is done to ensure the yam harvest that year will be successful; the higher they dive, the better the harvest will be. It’s also thought to strengthen participants spiritually, as they take the leap of faith. While it’s not required to dive, those who do are revered in the community and seen as true warriors. After all, to dive means to sacrifice your life for the tribe. They embrace the possibility of death during the initiation; it’ll be like taking one for the team. Boys around seven and eight (once they are circumcised) can participate, and they’re considered men after they survive the fall.
The risks are obvious. Divers are prone to concussions, broken hips and necks, and that’s if the vines don’t snap (and if they don’t impale themselves). If the vine is measured correctly, the only pain a diver will experience is the sudden harsh pull at his ankles once he drops, a painful feeling which will stay with him for days. It’s common to see tribe members’ heads hit the ground after a jump but for the most part, they survive unscathed.
3. Okipa Ceremony
The Okipa ceremony of the Mandan Indians opened with a Bison Dance, followed by a variety of torturous ordeals through which warriors proved their physical courage and gained the approval of the spirits. The Okipa began with the young man not eating, drinking, or sleeping for four days. They are then led to a hut, where they had to sit with smiling faces while the skin of their chest and shoulders was slit, and wooden skewers were thrust behind the muscles. Using the skewers to support the weight of their bodies, the warriors would be suspended from the roof of the lodge, and would hang there until they fainted. To add agony, heavy weights were added to the initiate’s legs. After fainting, the warrior would be pulled down and the men (women were not allowed to attend this ceremony) would watch the warrior until he awoke, proving the spirits’ approval. After awakening, the warrior would sacrifice the little finger on both hands, each finger being severed by the initiate with a hatchet. Finally, the warrior would be taken outside where he would run around the central plaza of the village a number of times.
2. Roman Infibulations
Speaking of penis, the ancient Romans also had their own initiation method. Infibulation is the process of suturing the foreskin. Using string or a metal clasp, the foreskin was closed and the penis was drawn to the side. Most infibulations were self inflicted.
This was done for several reasons. For singers, infibulations helped keep their voice through the years. It also was thought to capture and retain gladiators’ might and vitality. In some cases, an exposed penis was thought to be vulgar, especially the head of the penis, so infibulations were done to show modesty and restraint. For the purpose of this list, youths were exposed to the process to keep them from masturbating, and to abstain from sexual intercourse. It was a show of maturity to suture your own foreskin.
1. Mentawai Teeth Chiseling
Female Mentawaians of Sumatra experience an agonizing practice known as teeth chiseling. Local shaman sharpens a crude blade as best he can to make the chiseling as least painful as possible. The young girl is given nothing to numb the feeling in her mouth before he takes a rock and begins to hack away. Using careful strikes, the blade carves the corners of the teeth, leaving behind pointed ends similar to shark teeth. To finish the process, her teeth are filed to achieve the desired shape.
This is done to young girls because it is believed to make them more attractive. It’s also said that sharpened teeth please the spirits the tribes believe in, and bring balance to a female’s life. It’s an old tradition the Mentawaians have been following for years, but the practice isn’t as common anymore. Today, it’s up to the girl to decide if she wants her teeth chiseled to become beautiful.

Gruesome Torture Devices


5. Scold’s Bridle
This portable instrument of torture was popular in England and Scotland during the 1500′s, but was seen as late as the nineteenth century. The scold’s bridle (also known as branks) was a cage that was locked around a woman’s head as punishment for nagging and gossiping too often. Attached to this iron muzzle was a curb-plate inserted into a woman’s mouth to, literally, subdue her treacherous tongue. Most of these metal curb-
plates were spiked, averaging in length of about half an inch to an inch. The smaller spikes were a mild discomfort while the longer ones pierced the tongue and caused the victim to bleed continuously.
To make matters worse, some curb-plates had an additional round gag at the end which, when the device was worn, rested in the back of the mouth, irritating the throat. Some of these gags were shaped as animal heads to symbolically refer to her crime (e.g. donkey meant fool).
Wearing the scold’s bridle was far from a private affair. Women were taken through town, led by a leash, for people to see and know of her transgressions so that she may be ridiculed for them. If the verbal assaults weren’t enough, women were stoned and beaten by the townspeople.
4. Heretic’s Fork
The heretic’s fork, as you may have guessed, was used primarily during the various inquisitions. The fork was a metal rod with two prongs at both ends attached to a leather strap worn around the neck. The top fork was placed on the fleshy part under the chin, while the other end dug into the bone of the sternum, keeping the neck stretched and the head erect at all times. Ensuring optimal agony was simple. A person wearing the heretic’s fork was kept from lying down by either being hung from the ceiling or suspended in some manner that proved distressing.
Those wearing the device were only able to murmur to their torturers; any movement of the jaw would force the sharp prongs to further penetrate their skin. It was effective for long use because neither end pierced a vital organ, and blood loss was minimal. Victims usually died of sleep deprivation and fatigue.
3. Thumbscrew
This device, though seemingly simple, is a work of genius (in a cruel and unusual way, of course). A prisoner would place his thumbs between two flat metal pieces, connected by one or more screws. The metal bars had ridges, either smooth bumps or sharp spikes, that would bore into a victim’s thumbs, trapping him into the metal mechanism as his bones were crushed. It was a small torturous device that inflicted extreme pain, without too much effort.
The thumbscrew isn’t as bloody or nightmarish as other items listed here, but think about an instant when your thumb was caught in the door or a drawer; magnify the pain and you might then understand just how horrifically dreadful thumbscrews really were. Similar inventions were used on toes, wrists, elbows and knees.
2. Tean Zu
If crushing thumbs wasn’t enough, the Chinese tean zu, using a similar concept, was used on all fingers in a gruelingly long process. A victim’s fingers were placed on a flat wooden surface, where each finger was separated by sticks attached to strings. Refusal to answer questions or offer information resulted in the tightening of the strings which closed the device onto the prisoner’s fingers, breaking them slowly.
The tean zu was useful for a number of reasons. It was relatively easy to create, requiring little mechanical skill to assemble it. Crushing fingers not only delivered an extreme amount of pain, but the process could be repeated countless times. The unlucky victim strapped in the device would suffer for days, each time forcing their bones to crack again. These bones were damaged so badly, at times, that they protruded out of the skin from multiple crushings.
1. Spanish Spider
This object had long metal claws, which were heated before it was fixed onto a woman’s breast. If piercing soft flesh with a searing hot metal wasn’t enough, the breast was then ripped off a woman’s chest violently. This was the penalty for adultery or deliberate miscarriage of justice.
Other uses of the Spanish spider were just as inhumane. Victims were pierced by the heated claws on their breasts, belly or buttocks (anywhere fleshy) and then hung from the ceiling. Their own weight caused the wounds and skin to stretch, and bleeding was near impossible to stop. People died hours after they were first suspended off the ground.