'Sexual depravity' of penguins that Antarctic scientist dared not reveal | World news | The Observer It was the sight of a young male Adélie penguin attempting to have sex with a dead female that particularly unnerved George Murray Levick, a scientist with the 1910-13 Scott Antarctic Expedition. No such observation had ever been recorded before, as far as he knew, and Levick, a typical Edwardian Englishman, was horrified. Blizzards and freezing cold were one thing. Penguin perversion was another. Worse was to come, however. Levick blamed this "astonishing depravity" on "hooligan males" and wrote down his observations in Greek so that only an educated gentleman would understand the horrors he had witnessed. In fact, Levick's observations turned out to be well ahead of their time. Levick's lost masterpiece certainly has its eye-watering moments with its descriptions of male Adélies who gather in "little hooligan bands of half a dozen or more and hang about the outskirts of the knolls, whose inhabitants they annoy by their constant acts of depravity".
had a craigslist encounter that turned out well? terrible? let's hear it sexxit: does craigslist work? : sex World Naked Bike Ride – in pictures Cyclists in cities around the world have taken part in the World Naked Bike Ride. Started in 2004, the clothing-optional protest aims to promote cycling as a greener mode of transportation, and encourage a body-positive culture. San Francisco, London, Madrid, Amsterdam and Guadalajara were among the cities that took part this year
History books often tells the western version of the cold war, but how was the cold war seen from Soviets side? : AskReddit André the Giant Early life[edit] André Roussimoff was born in Grenoble, France, to Boris and Mariann Roussimouff, a couple of Bulgarian and Polish ancestry.[citation needed] As a child, he displayed symptoms of his gigantism very early, reaching a height of 6'3" (190.5 cm) and a weight of 240 pounds (110 kg) by the age of 12. Unable to fit on the school bus, he was driven to school by playwright Samuel Beckett, a neighbor.[12] Roussimoff was a good student, but he dropped out after the 8th grade since he did not think having a high school education was necessary for a farm laborer. He then worked on a farm, completed an apprenticeship in woodworking, and next worked in a factory that manufactured engines for hay balers. Professional wrestling career[edit] Early career[edit] At age 17, Roussimoff moved to Paris and was taught the art of professional wrestling by a local promoter who recognized the earning potential of Roussimoff's size. World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Federation[edit]
Detroit will be broke next week if lawsuit isn't dropped, mayor says With Detroit teetering over a monetary abyss, Mayor Dave Bing and the city's new chief financial officer issued a clarion call Friday, warning bluntly that the city will run out of cash next week if a lawsuit challenging the financial agreement the city made with the state to avoid insolvency isn't dropped. Calling his frustration level "off the charts" and saying the lawsuit is creating an even worse financial situation than the city was already in, Bing said he has urged Detroit's top lawyer, Krystal Crittendon, to drop the suit so the city can avoid losing a portion of $80 million the state is threatening to withhold if the lawsuit doesn't go away. • Full coverage: Detroit's financial crisis But, Bing said, by law he cannot force Crittendon to drop the suit. "I didn't want to get into a lawsuit -- it makes no sense to me, and nobody wins, as far as I'm concerned," Bing said at a news media briefing Friday. Detroit already has used $35 million of the $80 million. More Details: At odds
The Macroeconomics of Chinese kleptocracy China is a kleptocracy of a scale never seen before in human history. This post aims to explain how this wave of theft is financed, what makes it sustainable and what will make it fail. There are several China experts I have chatted with – and many of the ideas are not original. The synthesis however is mine. The macroeconomic effects of the Chinese kleptocracy and the massive fixed-currency crisis in Europe are the dominant macroeconomic drivers of the global economy. China is a kleptocracy. I start this analysis with China being a kleptocracy – a country ruled by thieves. (a). (b). (c). This however is only the beginning of Chinese fraud. China has huge underlying economic growth from moving peasants into the modern economy Every economy that has moved peasants to an export-orientated manufacturing economy has had rapid economic growth. This fast economic growth – which would happen in a more open economy – is creating the fuel for the Chinese kleptocracy. This does not work in China.
FunnyJunk is threatening to file a federal lawsuit against The Oatmeal unless he pays $20,000 in damages : comics Kingdom Rush Famous judge spikes Apple-Google case, calls patent system “dysfunctional” : TrueReddit Futurologist vs. Historian: On Human Progress - courtesy of The LongNow Foundation : Futurology Summer reading flowchart Wishing well A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the idea that water housed deities or had been placed there as a gift from the gods, since water was a source of life and often a scarce commodity. The Germanic and Celtic peoples considered springs and wells sacred places.[1] Sometimes the places were marked with wooden statues possibly of the god associated with the pool. Germanic peoples were known to throw the armour and weapons of defeated enemies into bogs and other pools of water as offerings to their gods.[2][3] Water was seen to have healing powers and therefore wells became popular with many people drinking, bathing or just simply wishing over it. A small ornamental garden wishing well, with coins to wish for The tradition of dropping pennies in ponds and fountains stems from this. References[edit] External links[edit]