all incredible world: February 2012

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.

Fascinating Sealed and Secret Documents


5. Dr. David Kelly’s Post Mortem
Sealed Until: 2073
David Kelly worked for the U.K Ministry of Defense as an expert in bio-weapons. He was also one of the key UN weapons inspectors in Iraq. In 2003, he became concerned about the US/UK claims of WMD in Iraq in the build-up to the Iraq war. The trouble started when Kelly became an anonymous source for a BBC journalist, who quoted his doubts about the existence of weapons of mass destruction. After Kelly’s identity was leaked, a Parliamentary committee, tasked with investigating the intelligence on Iraq, asked
Kelly to testify, which he did. During his testimony Kelly denied any knowledge of the quotes. Several days after his testimony, he went for a walk, as he did almost every day. In a wooded area about a mile away from his home he ingested up to 29 tablets of painkillers then cut his left wrist. The British government announced that Lord Hutton would lead the Inquiry into Kelly’s death. The Hutton Inquiry reported, on the 28th of January, 2004, that Kelly had committed suicide. Although suicide was officially accepted as the cause of death, some medical experts have their doubts, suggesting that the evidence does not back this up. In January 2010, Lord Hutton ordered that all files relating to the post mortem remain sealed for 70 years from the date of his death, for reasons that have not been explained.
Interesting Fact: Most of the articles I came across concerning Dr. Kelly were pretty much agenda driven, with a lot of conspiracy theories. I do admit that the sealed post mortem does make it seem a little fishy. However, it should be pointed out that there are still many who believe that Kelly committed suicide. They explain that the killer, or killers, would have had to kidnap him and march him into the woods, then force tablets down his throat and make him cut his own wrist. All of this without leaving any trace of forensic evidence on Kelly. It is also said that just before he was found dead, he was seen alone by a friend on his way to the woods, where they exchanged pleasantries.
4. Shirley Ardell Mason Files
Sealed Until: Indefinitely
The life of Shirley Ardell Mason was chronicled by Arthur Flora Rheta Schreiber in the book “Sybil”. It was published in 1973 and then made into a television movie in 1976, starring Sally Field. Mason’s real name was not used in order to protect her identity. In the early 1950s, Mason was a student at Columbia University and had long suffered from blackouts and emotional breakdowns, and had started therapy with psychiatrist Cornelia B. Wilbur. It was their psychotherapy sessions together that was the basis of the book. Wilber diagnosed and treated her for multiple personality disorder, with, reportedly, up to 16 co-existing personalities. In 1998, Robert Rieber and John Jay of the College of Criminal Justice claimed Wilbur had manipulated Mason in order to secure a book deal. Neither Rieber nor Jay are psychologists, but the miss-diagnoses was also supported by Dr. Herbert Spiegel, who saw Mason for several sessions while Wilbur was on vacation. Spiegel argued that Sybil had disassociation disorder, not multiple personalities. Shirley Ardell Mason died of breast cancer in 1998, at the age of 75. The case still remains very controversial and, due to privacy laws, it is very unlikely that Mason’s therapy records will ever be released to the public.
Interesting Fact: Dr. Herbert Spiegel recalled that Wilbur came to him with author Flora Rheta Schreiber and asked him to co-author the book with them, and that they would be calling the book Sybil a “multiple personality.” Spiegel told them, “But she’s not a multiple personality!” When Spiegel told Wilbur and Schreiber that multiple personality would not be accurate, Schreiber got in a huff and said, “But if we don’t call it a multiple personality, we don’t have a book!”
3. Mark Twain’s Autobiography
Sealed Until: This Year
One of Mark Twain’s wishes before he died was that his autobiography not be published until 100 years after his death, which was April 21, 1910. Twain left behind thousands of unedited pages of memoirs, together with handwritten notes. Included in the memoirs are 400 pages detailing his relationship with Isabel Van Kleek Lyon, who became his secretary after his wife died in 1904. Twain says he was so close to Lyon that she once bought him an electric vibrating sex toy. However he later turns on her, saying she had seduced him and “hypnotized” him into giving her the power of attorney over his estate. Also included are his doubts about God, and questions the imperial mission of the U.S. in Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. The first volume of the autobiography is to be published November 2010 by the University of California, where the manuscripts were sealed in a vault. The eventual trilogy will run close to half a million words.
Interesting Fact: No one really know for sure why Mark Twain wanted the first-hand account of his life kept under wraps for so long. Some scholars believe it was because he wanted to talk freely about issues such as religion and politics. Others argue that the time lag prevented him from having to worry about offending friends. I think it was probably both.
2. Identical Twin Study
Sealed Until: 2066
In the 1960s and 70s renowned New York psychologist Viola Bernard and her colleague, Dr. Peter Neubauer, conducted a nature-nurture study. They persuaded an adoption agency to send twins to different homes, without telling the respective adoptive parents that the children were, in fact, twins. In 1963, Dr. Bernard wrote that the study “provides a natural laboratory situation for studying certain questions with respect to the nature-nurture issue, and of family dynamic interactions in relation to personality development.” She also believed that, if separated, identical twins would be better off with their individual identities. When the families adopted the children, they were told that their child was already part of an ongoing child study, but neglected to tell them the key element of the study. The adoptive families would travel separately to the center once a month for 12 years for IQ tests and speech analysis. They would also visit their homes and film the children playing. The study ended in 1980, and a year later, the state of New York began requiring adoption agencies to keep siblings together. Realizing that public opinion would be against this type of research, Dr. Neubauer decided not to publish it. Yale University gathered all the information from the study and sealed it until 2066, when most of the participants will likely be dead.
Interesting Fact: I know these twins were already featured in a twins list a while back, but I think they are worth another look. The two women pictured above, Elyse and Paula, were one of the sets of twins studied. When Elyse was 35 she registered with the Adoption Information Registry, and later received a call telling her she had a twin sister. She was also told about the controversial study. When the twins were reunited they started to investigate the details of their adoption. Dr. Bernard had already died, but the twins were able to track down Dr. Neubauer and, after many requests, he agreed to meet with them. The doctor showed no remorse and offered no apology. Of the 13 children involved in the study, three sets of twins and one set of triplets have discovered their siblings. There are still four people who don’t know that they have an identical twin. Efforts to have Yale University release the records by the sisters and other twins have failed. For those who want to know more about Elyse and Paula’s remarkable story, you can watch an interview of the two here SaveFrom.net.
1. France’s Secret UFO Files
Opened in: 2007
In 2007, France’s National Center for Space Studies made available over 1000 files on UFO cases, that have been researched by the French government for over 50 years. The archives were made available onto its Internet site for worldwide viewing. The files include pictures of possible UFOs, eyewitness accounts, field journals and inter-governmental documents on those sightings. Within three hours of posting the first cases, the French space agency’s Web server crashed because of the flood of viewers seeking the first glimpses of official government UFO files. Jacques Patenet, who heads the Group for the Study of Unidentified Aerospace Phenomena said “the data that we are releasing doesn’t demonstrate the presence of extraterrestrial beings, but it doesn’t demonstrate the impossibility of such presence either”. The French government is the first to release this type of information to the public. Great Britain then followed by releasing their files in 2008. You can go on the French website here and the UK site can be found here.
Interesting Fact: One of the more interesting cases included in the files happened on Aug. 29, 1967. A 13-year-old boy and his 9-year-old sister were watching over their family’s cows near the village of Cussac when the boy spotted “four small black beings” about 47 inches tall. Thinking they were other youngsters, he shouted to his sister, “Oh, there are black children!” But as they watched, the four beings became agitated and rose into the air, entering the top of what appeared to be a round spaceship, about 15 feet in diameter, which hovered over the field. Just as the sphere rose up, one of the passengers emerged from the top and returned to the ground to grab something, then flew back to the sphere. The sphere “became increasingly brilliant” before disappearing with a loud whistling sound and left “a strong sulfur odor after departure,” The children raced home in tears and their father summoned the local police, who “noted the sulfur odor and the dried grass at the reported place where the sphere took off.”

Innovative Charities


5. Oaktree Foundation
Charity’s version of Menudo, the Oaktree Foundation is an aid and development organization run exclusively by young people under the age of 26. Listed achievements from a website littered with bad spelling include a 2006 Make Poverty History Concert (with Eddie Vedder and, of course, Bono), an End Child Slavery campaign and Schools 4 Schools, an Australian school program raising awareness of global
poverty. Oaktree also supports the Adidome Modular Training program in Ghana, which combats Trokosi religious practices of surrendering young girls to shrines as reparations for supposed ‘crimes’ committed by family members (many of these girls remain imprisoned for life).
4. Community Voice Mail
Homelessness
Community Voice Mail provides free voice messaging services for the poor or homeless throughout the United States. You and I may snicker at the dated mention of “voice mail”, but to “those whose street address is the license plate of their car, a simple voice mail number may be the life line to mere survival” (US veteran). CVM has found their service is particularly useful in helping the homeless find employment, as it avoids the stigma of an employer contacting an applicant at a homeless shelter. In 2009, CMV served 43,000 households and over 57,000 individuals with voice messaging support. 
3. First Book
Literacy
Remember your first book? Mine was, honest to God, “Dick and Jane”. FIRST BOOK provides new books to children by mitigating the most important factor affecting literacy—access to books. The group has distributed more than 60 million free and low cost books in thousands of US and Canadian communities, using local volunteers and corporate donations. Key to their success is marketing their near-Draconian financial efficiency – non-programmatic costs total less than 3% of revenue, so 97% of revenue is devoted directly to programmatic costs. As a result, every $1 donation places $10 worth of new books directly into the hands of children in need. This achieves sky-high donor confidence, as evidenced in Random House’s 1.9 million book donation in 2005.
2. Modest Needs
Financial Crisis
This is the only charity that rejects you if you’re too poor. Why? Because Modest Needs’ unique aim is to stop poverty before it starts. Their grant programs are designed to assist people who generally pay their bills with no help from anyone, but can’t qualify for conventional assistance. Usually, these people are facing a single financial crisis or unexpected expense they just can’t afford on their own. Donors register with the Modest Needs website and review applicant cases, ‘voting’ for each with points purchased with credit. When a case receives enough points, the funds are released to the applicant. And when their crisis passes, many recipients later become donors themselves.
1. Ushahidi
Information Technology
Founded by Kenyan journalists to map post-election violence, Ushahidi is a free and open source web platform for data collection, visualization and interactive mapping of fast-moving crises or political events. And it’s been put to good use. To date, Ushahidi has used free “crowdsourced” data from mobile phones, email and the web to map and timeline Sudanese voting violence, earthquake response in Chile and Haiti, violent crime in Atlanta, uprisings in the Gaza strip and medical stockouts plaguing Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, and Zambia.

Formidable Predatory Insects


We are all familiar with the house fly, which feeds on decaying organic matter (among other disgusting things), and is pretty much harmless to other insects. However, there are around 120,000 species of flies in the world (many are yet to be discovered) and some of them are accomplished predators. Robber flies are among these; they have extremely sharp eyesight and can fly at high speed, catching other insects in mid air. They have stabbing mouthparts (proboscis) which inject a powerful neurotoxic venom and digestive juices
into the victim, liquifying its innards, which the fly sucks afterwards.
Due to this formidable weapon and the robber fly’s devastating attack speed, not even wasps, bees or spiders in their webs are safe from these aerial killers. Robber fly venom is usually harmless to humans, but if captured they can give an extremely painful bite.
4. Water scorpion
Despite their fearsome appearance and alarming name, water scorpions are actually insects, belonging to the true bug (Hemiptera) group, and completely harmless to humans. However, they are the scourge of small aquatic animals, which they capture with their strong, modified forelegs. Water scorpions are sort of the insect equivalent of a crocodile; they are slow moving ambush predators that snatch any small animal that comes close; mostly, they feed on other aquatic insects such as mosquito larvae and diving beetles, but they have been known to dine on small fish and frogs once in a while.
Although they have wings, their flight muscles are poorly developed and they fly rarely, usually when the ponds or lakes where they live start to dry up and they must find a new residence. As for the long, tail-like projection at the end of their abdomen, it is actually a breathing tube; the water scorpion uses it to collect oxygen from the surface, and can subsequently remain underwater for up to half an hour before it has to breathe again.
3. Arachnocampa luminosa
Arachnocampa is a kind of gnat from New Zealand; as an adult, its only goal in life is to mate, and it doesn’t feed at all. However, its larvae are accomplished predators with a most unusual hunting method, which gives the animal its name (Arachnocampa means “spider worm”). They usually live in the ceiling of dark, secluded caves, away from wind currents and sunlight. The larvae spin a nest of silk (produced by themselves) and hang several silk threads from the cave ceiling, around the nest.
Each one of these threads is covered on sticky droplets of mucus, sometimes loaded with venom. The Arachnocampa larva can glow like a firefly, which attracts flying insects such as moths to the sticky threads and to a horrible end. Once the unfortunate insect is caught, the larva tones down its glow, pulls the silk thread up and starts feeding voraciously on the entangled prey, whether it is alive or dead.
2. Tiger Beetle
Everyone knows that the fastest land predator is the cheetah, which can reach speeds of 115 kms (71 mph) per hour. Compared to this, a Tiger Beetle is a slowpoke; it can only run at a speed of 8 kms (5 mph) per hour. But if we take its size into account, it is actually the fastest animal in the world! If we could run as fast as the tiger beetle, proportionally to our size, we could reach speeds of almost 500 kms (311 mph) per hour! This speed is so extreme that a running Tiger Beetle must stop constantly to locate prey, since its eyes are unable to process visual information at such high speed.
Tiger Beetles feed on whatever small animal they can subdue; they hunt mostly on land, but are also skilled flyers and have been known to catch other insects in the air too. Their sharp mandibles can easily sever the limbs and body parts of other insects, sometimes bigger than the Tiger Beetle itself. There are many species of Tiger Beetle and they are among the most abundant insect predators, being extremely useful to humans as they help control pests. The larvae of these beetles are also fearsome predators, but instead of chasing their prey, they prefer to wait in ambush, hidden underground, and capture any passing insect with their enormous jaws.
1. Antlion
Adult antlions look rather like damselflies, and although some species hunt smaller flying insects, most of them prefer to feed on pollen and nectar. Antlion larvae, on the other hand, are deadly insect predators, and just like Arachnocampa, they have developed a most amazing trick to capture prey. They live in sandy places, where they dig a funnel-shaped pit, cleverly designed so that no insect can climb its steep walls. The antlion then buries itself in the bottom of the pit. Whenever an unfortunate insect (usually an ant) steps on the edge of the pit, the sand collapses and the victim falls to the bottom, and into the antlion larva’s deadly jaws.
Sometimes, an ant will escape the larva and attempt to climb the walls of the pit; in this case, the antlion has another trick up its sleeve; it throws jets of sand to the ant, so that it slips back into the pit’s bottom. Once the antlion larva has secured its prey, it sucks its body fluid with the tooth-like projections of its jaws, and then throws the dry carcass out of the pit.

Nearly Extinct Household Items


5. Window and Floor Fans
Before everyone had window air-conditioners, and then central air-conditioning, people did one thing in the summer months. They sweat. Summer months, especially July and August, were something that had to be endured. Unless you went to a public place like a movie theater, there was no air-conditioning. If it was 95 and humid outside, your house was even hotter and more uncomfortable. Trying to sleep at night was a real difficulty. The old window fan that rattled away and sucked in slightly less hot air from the outside, during the night, was a staple of all households. Many other rooms had floor fans that you could plug in and circulate
the hot humid air around the room at your feet. Or as a kid you could turn it on and lay on the floor with your face in it, feeling the moving air. With central air-conditioning being almost universal now, homes seldom use window or floor fans. Dads around the world no longer have the joy of cramming the window fan into the window, adjusting it, screwing it into place, and then taking it out come fall.
4. Storm and Screen Windows
And speaking of dad wrestling with windows, he had another biannual job to do, one even more hated than window fans. Putting in and taking out storm windows and screen windows. Again, in this age of air-conditioning and well fitted, double-panned, thermally insulated year-round windows, no one has to switch between storm windows in the winter and screens in the summer. But back then, this was a necessity. Screen windows had to be installed in the summer so you could let the air in without the bugs. Then at the end of the summer, the screen windows had to come out and the storm windows went back in. These storm windows were pathetic compared to modern windows – heavy, single-pane glass monstrosities that were hard to fit into the window slats and once in, rattled in the strong winter winds (and did a poor job keeping out the cold and wind). But like everything else back then, they were all you had. So they had to do. Thankfully, men don’t need to haul these things around and climb ladders to change windows anymore.
3. Wall Telephones
Family wall telephones were in every house back then. There may have also been some pedestal phone sitting on a coffee table or in your sister’s room. But somewhere, usually on the first floor, there was a phone hanging on the wall. Usually it came in the standard color – black. When it rang everyone knew someone was calling. The phone was usually located near some piece of furniture which had a drawer which contained two other disappearing pieces of the family household – the Yellow Pages phone directory, and mom’s little phone message book (that’s right, they had an app. for that even back then – it was called writing down the persons name and phone number in a little A-Z book). The original wall telephones came standard with 4-6 foot cords, so you pretty much had to stand at the phone to talk to whoever it was you were conversing with. Later on they developed 12 and even 18 foot long cords so mom could stretch that receiver over to the stove and keep cooking while she talked. We had one friend who had a mom who stretched their 6-foot cord into an 18-footer. We always joked she invented the extended reach telephone cord. Of course with cell phones, few people even have a phone in the house anymore, and the Yellow Pages may soon be extinct.
2. Playing Cards
Every house had multiple sets of playing cards. Pinochle, bridge, or straight decks, usually all three. The area I grew up in was huge for pinochle, everyone had pinochle decks. You could walk into any corner store, department store, or convenience store and they sold decks of pinochle cards. Not anymore, pinochle decks are hard to find. They just don’t sell, so the stores stopped carrying them.
Playing cards was a social thing everyone seemed to do. Kids would get out cards and play a game of “war.” Mom would have pinochle or bridge parties and all her friends would come over, dressed to the nines, and mom would bring out all her best glassware. Dad might have some buddies over to drink beer and play poker. Card playing was just part of our lives. Sadly, we are not as social as we used to be, friends don’t just pop in to say hello and a card game spontaneously erupts. Moms don’t have regular card parties. If we play cards, it is on our smart phones or computers. Like that book “Bowling Alone,” we still play cards, just not with other people. How sad.
1. Burn Barrels
Of all the old household items I miss from my childhood, this is #1. The backyard burn barrel. It was a rusty old empty 55-gallon drum dad brought home from work or found at a junkyard, or God knows where he got it. In the autumn, my favorite time of the year, you knew winter was coming because the geese were flying south, you were playing football, school had started, and the smell of burning leaves was in the air (oh yeah, mom had the Halloween decorations up too). Everyone had one of these in their backyards to burn their fallen leaves. There were no curbside pick-ups to recycle the leaves back then. You just raked them up, and burned them. My mom loved it. She would stand there with an old broom stick handle, blackened at one end, and stir the smoldering leaves to get more air to them so they would combust better. We would rake up the leaves and walk over and dump arm fulls into the burning barrel. Then my mom would stir it like a witch attending her cauldron. There was just nothing like the smell of burning leaves in the autumn, and there still isn’t to this day. Most municipalities and cities banned the burning of leaves decades ago, so it is something you only found in more rural areas. Machines come around and vacuum up your leaves at the curb. Perhaps more environmentally friendly, but we have lost that wonderful seasonal odor as a result.

Terrible Decisions of the 20th and 21st Centuries


5. Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Though Harry Truman was under extreme pressure to end the war and reduce American casualties I think his decision to drop two atomic bombs on August 6th and August 9th, 1945 was in error. The Japanese were already defeated. According to Army Air Force General Henry H. (Hap) Arnold, “It always appeared to us, atomic bomb or no atomic bomb, the Japanese were already on the verge of collapse.” President
Eisenhower declared in an interview with Newsweek: “…the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing.”
4. Elite within the Democratic Party
Bad move. In the late 1960s and early 1970s the so very lofty upper-class took control of the Democratic Party. Since then the Democrats rarely win elections, no matter how stupidly the Republicans behave. Tragically some thought this new elitist Democratic Party would be pro-peace. In fact the Democrats are more war-like than ever, only now the wars are even more pointless. (Example: our invasions of small Muslim nations.) What happened to Democrats that stand up for working people?
3. Vietnam War
General MacArthur said that any defense secretary who advises the president to fight a land war is Asia should “have his head examined.” Unfortunately this is just the advice Defense Secretary Robert McNamara gave to President Johnson, and troop levels rocketed upward in the mid-1960s. The war suited the enemy. No domestic opposition was permitted in Vietnam so the government didn’t have to worry about public opinion. Vietnam possessed a large population that could hide from American firepower in the dense jungle. In contrast, the United States media often criticized the war effort. Americans don’t like high casualties, especially not in an interminable war half way around the world.
2. Iraq War
The 9/11 Commission chaired by Republican Tom Kean concluded that Saddam Hussein did not aid Al-Qaeda’s 9/11 attack. The Iraq Survey Group concluded that Saddam Hussein did not possess weapons of mass destruction after 1991. So why did so many people die in the 2003 launched Iraq War? Why the huge expense?
1. Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor
The December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor was madness. What’s startling is that Admiral Yamamoto, who planned the attack, knew very well Japan could not possibly win a protracted war against the United States. The U.S. possessed a far larger population and greatly superior industrial strength. Though his staff celebrated on December 8th, Yamamoto was sunk in depression.

Sports Greatest Moments


5. Formula 1
2007 Formula One Championship – Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2007 formula one season marked the first season without veteran driver Michael Schumacher. The season was marked by intense competition between three premier drivers – Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen. The Brazilain Grand Prix was the last race of the season, and it was the first time since 1986 that three drivers were in contention for the championship with only a single race remaining. The event was marked by treacherous weather, and was started under safety car conditions. Lewis
Hamilton was the favorite with 107 points, followed by Fernando Alonso on 103 points and Kimi Räikkönen on only 100 points. Without some dramatic event, it seemed clear that either Hamilton or Alonso would win, with Räikkönen not being in contention. However, Hamilton slipped to the back, from 2nd, after a gearbox problem and, though he recovered to the 7th position, Kimi Räikkönen won the race and thereby the championship. Had Hamilton finished even 5th or below, he would have won the championship. The final standings were Räikkönen on 110 points followed by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso each on 109 points.
4. Tennis
Borg-McEnroe’s 4th set Tie-Breaker
In any assessment of great sporting moments of the 20th Century, the fourth set tie break of the 1980 Wimbledon Gentlemen’s Singles final, between the defending champion Bjorn Borg of Sweden and John McEnroe of the USA, has earned an unchallenged place. The 1980 final began badly for Borg, as McEnroe swept through the first set 6-1, and was frequently in a strong position in the second. However, Borg took the second and third set to lead two sets to one, with the final now almost two hours old. Soon, the fourth set tie break was a reality. Match points and set points followed, in a tantalizing sequence with Borg first reaching match points at 6-5 and 7-6. McEnroe, next, held and lost two set points before Borg, even more agonizingly, missed three match points as McEnroe dealt with them firmly, with a sequence of a great serve, a net cord and a volley. McEnroe now stayed out in front, holding and losing four set points before capturing the set on his fifth chance. Against Borg’s serve, McEnroe’s viciously top spun return produced a volley error from the Swede – and the match was all square after just over three hours on court. Borg went for broke in the deciding set, hitting eighty per cent of his first serves, and losing only three points on serve in the entire set. McEnroe contributed fully to this astonishing final and twice served to save the match. But Borg, cold-eyed within sight of a title which would make him the first to win five in a row since the abolition of the Challenge Round, finally reached his eighth match point when McEnroe missed a low volley. A backhand passing shot ended it and Borg was Champion by 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6.
3. Golf
1997 Masters Tournament
At the 1996 Masters, Jack Nicklaus predicted that amateur Tiger Woods would win more green jackets than Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer combined. Golf scribes rolled their eyes. A year later, Jack looked prophetic. Playing in his first major as a pro, Woods made Augusta National beg for mercy. “He’s taking the course apart,” Nicklaus said. Tom Watson called him “the type of player who comes around once in a millennium.” Woods possessed more than brute strength – he had a killer instinct and a killer short game, and never three-putted on the course’s treacherous greens. He began Sunday with a nine-shot lead, and ended the day with a four-footer for par, a fist pump and a slew of tournament records: youngest champion (21), lowest four-day score (270) and largest margin of victory (12). Woods also became the first minority golfer to win The Masters. “I wasn’t the pioneer,” Woods said. “Charlie Sifford, Lee Elder, Ted Rhodes – those are the guys who paved the way.” Pioneer or not, Woods was the new face of golf.
2. Boxing
Tyson-Holyfield II
Termed as Tyson-Holyfield II, the fight began with Holyfield dominating Tyson. Tyson had repeatedly complained about head-butting in the first bout between the two. As the third round was about to begin, Tyson came out of his corner without his mouthpiece. The referee ordered Tyson back to his corner to insert it. Tyson inserted his mouthpiece, got back into position and the match resumed. Tyson began the third round with a furious attack. With forty seconds remaining in the round Holyfield got Tyson in a clinch, and Tyson rolled his head above Holyfield’s shoulder and bit Holyfield on his right ear, avulsing a one-inch piece of cartilage from the top of the ear, and spitting out the piece of ear on the ring floor.The fight was delayed for several minutes as Lane debated what to do. Lane’s original inclination was to immediately disqualify Tyson, but after the ringside doctor determined that Holyfield was able to continue despite the bite, Lane announced he would be deducting two points from Tyson and the fight continued. During another clinch, Tyson bit Holyfield’s left ear. Holyfield threw his hands around to get out of the clinch and jumped back, but the two men continued fighting until time expired. The men walked back to their respective corners when the fight was then stopped. As a result of biting Holyfield on both ears and other behavior, Tyson’s boxing license was revoked by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and he was fined $3 million, plus legal costs, and was almost sentenced to prison.
1. Basketball
Michael Jordan’s immortalized shot
It was, quite simply, the greatest clutch sequence in basketball history. Trailing Utah 86-83 with 41.9 seconds left, Chicago was in danger of facing a Game 7 on the road, with Scottie Pippen severely limited by back pain. Then Michael Jordan delivered. First, MJ hit a driving layup to cut the lead to one. Then he stripped Karl Malone from behind in the post, and calmly dribbled upcourt. After a stutter-step and a crossover dribble, Jordan launched a championship-winning 20-foot jumper over a fallen Bryon Russell. After a time-out, Stockton’s three-point attempt hit the rim and bounced away, giving the Bulls their sixth NBA title in 8 years. Jordan, who scored 45 points, and whose game-winning shot has been immortalized around the world, was named the Finals MVP.

Mysterious Islands in Fiction


5. The Island of Creation
First appeared in: God of War II (2007) by Cory Barlog, James Balrog, David Jaffe, and Marianne Krawczyk
The main location during the hit video game’s mid-section appears both on the PlayStation 2 version of the game, and the compilation God of War Collection for the PlayStation 3. As number 1 on the previous list was an island from Greek mythology, it is perhaps fitting that number 10 on this list should also come from Greek mythology, albeit a more modern version of that mythology. Here, anti-hero Kratos meets up with various figures from Greek mythology, including Theseus and the Sisters of Fate.

4. Hydra Island
First appeared in: Lost (2006)
Although not The Island in Lost, much mystery and many key moments in the series nevertheless occurred on this nearby smaller island, which again appropriately takes it name from Greek mythology, given the first possibly fictional mysterious island on the earlier list. You can go here to read more information on this island.
3. Shutter Island
First appeared in: Shutter Island (2003) by Dennis Lehane
Shutter Island, as with Arkham Island, is home to a hospital for the criminally insane. This particular island appears in both a best-selling novel, and subsequent film adaptation that grossed nearly $300 million dollars worldwide. A United States Marshal’s efforts to investigate a murderess’s disappearance takes many twists and turns that include nightmares, conspiracy, and an ending that challenges the reality of what we have read across the length of the novel or watched for the duration of the film.
2. Rockfort Island
First appeared in: Resident Evil Code: Veronica (2000)
The zombie and monster infested island serves as one of the major settings for two major video games and a novel, set in 1998. Administered by Alfred Ashford for Umbrella, the island is a site for mystery and adventure primarily for Claire Redfield, Steve Burnside, and Chris Redfield. In addition to the even more bizarre biological experiments than those seen in The Island of Dr. Moreau and Jurassic Park (Resident Evil’s most notorious island features among other things a gigantic virus infected earth worm called a “gulp worm“), this island includes a prison (as does Arkham Island) and also a palace and military training facility.
1. The Island
First appeared in: Cast Away (2000) by William Boyles, Jr.
The main setting of a film that grossed over $400 million dollars, and received major nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and MTV Movie Awards, has importance beyond its appearance in a single successful film. Three years after the film’s release, Cast Away-The Series became a consideration for ABC Studios to develop. The proposed television series developed further and eventually had the title of Nowhere. Ultimately, the basic concept of this proposed series evolved into 2004’s Lost, a series with not one but two notable fictional mysterious islands of adventure.

Funniest Moments in Sports


Bless the guy who invented the camera. A single snap taken at the right moment can be the source of entertainment for millions of people. And the funnier it is, the better. The definition of the word “funny” varies from person to person but for most, it involves others getting hurt. It’s sad, really – for the ones in the pictures, that is.
Following is a compilation of ten hilarious moments in sports caught on camera with a caption below each for, well, added perspective.
Special Move: ‘Buttockular’ Decapitation
Butt-head

FAIL Videos of 2010


Get ready to wince, shudder in disgust and laugh till you’re out of breath, because following is a list of the top ten FAIL moments of 2010 caught on tape. Caution: Some of the following videos have a high gross-factor and may not be suitable for those with a weak stomach.
Watermelon Launch FAIL
Watermelon Launch FAIL
This clip from the reality TV show, The Amazing Race, shows one of the contestants getting hit square in the face (“…right in the kisser!”) with a boomeranging watermelon (ouch) while trying to sling it at a suit of medieval armor. [Watch]
Answering Your Phone in Class FAIL
Answering Your Phone in Class FAIL
This 27 second clip gives a whole new meaning to the term “dropped call”. Notice how the teacher, after her brief phone-homicidal frenzy, casually resumes the lecture. [Watch]
Roller Coaster Vomit FAIL
Roller Coaster FAIL
I don’t think I have to tell you how disgusting this clip is. The title says it all. Good thing the poor girl didn’t let loose on her puke-gun during a vertical loop. [Watch]
Pole Dance FAIL (Stripper FAIL)
Pole Dance FAIL
Lesson learned: never film yourself dancing, especially if it’s to an Aqua song and on a stripper pole with insufficient sand in its base. [Watch]
Hand Washing FAIL