Monday, September 30, 2013

Train Runs Over Couple Having Sex on Tracks


MOSCOW (RIA Novosti) - Local police say a middle-aged couple in central Ukraine was run over by a switcher locomotive while having sex on the tracks. According to the country's Interior Ministry, the woman died at the location while the man was hospitalized after losing both his legs. 

The victims' names were not released, but it was reported that the man was 41 and the woman appeared to by thirtysomething. 

The ministry cited the surviving victim, who said that he and his girlfriend “failed to overcome their natural passion when walking home… and wanted to experience an extreme sensation near the railroad tracks.”

...........and see the video coverage at:
  http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/Train-Runs-Over-Couple-Having-Sex-on-Tracks

US employers slashing worker hours to avoid Obamacare insurance mandate

Trend sparks fears among low-paid workers that they will be hit twice: by having earnings cut and paying more for healthcare


Avita Samuels has worked at the Mall of America in Minneapolis for the last four years, juggling a sales job with her studies in political science and law at the University of Minnesota. The 24-year-old has been the top sales associate for the last three years and works between 29 and 35 hours a week. But over the past few months, she said, she has watched as friends working in stores around her have their hours and benefits slashed – and she's worried that she will be next.

Forever 21, the clothing store, told staff last month in a memo leaked to the press that it planned to cut hours and reclassify some full-time workers as part- time. The move, which the company denied had anything to do with President Barack Obama's health reforms, the Affordable Care Act (ACA), will nevertheless help it avoid a mandate under the legislation requiring companies with 50 or more employees to offer those working 30 hours a week or more health insurance. Earlier this month, Seaworld, which operates 11 entertainment parks across the US, capped hours for part time workers at 28, down from 32, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Other retailers, such as Trader Joe's and Home Depot have said they will no longer provide medical coverage for part-time employees, and will shift them instead to the public healthcare exchanges which open Tuesday, 1 October. Some employers have said their health costs will rise as a result of various provisions of the ACA, which takes full effect in 2015, when larger companies have to provide health benefits to full time workers or pay a $2,000 per-person fine.

The trend has caused fears among low-paid workers living on the breadline that they will be hit twice – by having their hours and thus earnings cut and by having to pay more for healthcare. Based on what she said is happening in the stores around her, Samuels is concerned she too will have her hours cut and with it her eligibility for company healthcare under the ACA.

"It's a really scary situation," said Samuels, who earns $9.25 an hour and is trying to reduce a student loan debt of close to $50,000. She currently receives subsidised healthcare through her university, but it runs out next year, when she had hoped her employer healthcare would kick in.

"Technically, I should be eligible," she said. "But at least 20 stores around me have cut hours. I live paycheck to paycheck. I have credit card debts. It's a balancing act. I'm afraid I won't be able to afford healthcare."

As one of the nation's lowest-paid workers, with little job security, Samuels is not alone in her fears that she may be worse off when the ACA takes full effect.

Following a callout to hourly workers who had experienced recent changes in hours or health benefits, the Guardian was contacted by employees and their families. Two of them said they were so concerned about additional costs of healthcare, they were considering not buying insurance at all.

Typing Samuel's average earnings of $15,000 a year and her state into the subsidy calculator on the Kaiser Family Foundation website, reveals that, if her employer did not offer healthcare and she were to enter a healthcare exchange, she would be eligible for government subsidy and would pay $300 a year towards the $1,449 cost of a plan. Samuels, who is already struggling financially, said this will represent a massive additional burden should her hours be cut by her employer.

A survey by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans published last month, found that 15% of large employers (50 or more employees) and 20% of smaller employers had plans to adjust hours so that fewer employees qualify for full-time medical insurance under the ACA.

Kavita Patel, a fellow in economic studies at the Brooking Institution who worked on healthcare reform in the White House, said: "The big question everyone is asking is: 'Will it increase the premiums?' If you are being dropped by your employer and you are going into the exchanges, it depends on how much much money you are making. In New York, for instance, the rate in the exchange is cheaper than the group markets."

read more @: 

Federal Government Shutdown: Congress Fails to Pass Spending Measure

House Moves to Conference with Senate, Brings on Shutdown

Less than 90 minutes before the federal government shuts down at midnight, the House of Representatives has all but admitted defeat (or secured victory, depending on how you look at it) on any continuing resolution they might pass.





The federal government has shut down: http://bit.ly/18HA3bg

These 9 government sectors will be among the hardest hit.

Here's An Easy Taco Soup Recipe


8 CAN TACO SOUP -


Ingredients:
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 (15.25 oz.) can sweet corn, drained
1 (12.5 oz.) can white chicken breast, drained
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
1 (10 oz.) can green enchilada sauce
1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
1 packet taco seasoning

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a large pot.
Heat until warm, stirring occasionally.
Serve with tortilla chips.

Brains On Trial: Neuroscience Has Limited Use In The Courtroom, Scientists Say

Our growing understanding of the brain is shaping the future of justice -- but slowly. Wikimedia Commons/Michel Royon 

In 2008, a judge in India convicted a woman of murdering her ex-fiance largely based on the results from an unusual kind of lie detection test: a type of brain scan called an electroencephalogram, or EEG. The suspect sat in a room with electrodes attached to her head as a voice read statements about the killing of Udit Bahrati, who died after eating arsenic-laced sweets. Based on the readout from the EEG, the test administrators said the suspect, Aditi Sharma, had “experiential knowledge” of Bahrati’s murder. The judge was swayed.

And in “Brains on Trial,” a PBS special hosted by actor Alan Alda that premiered earlier this month, brain scanning techniques to reveal memories, facial recognition, emotions, biases and intentions are examined through the prism of a fictional covenience story robbery. By showing how this technology can be used with witnesses, jurors, judges and possible perpetrators, the program offers a glimpse at how science and the law might intersect in the future.

But it's too soon for science to claim a victory against crime. Brain-based evidence is already used to determine the extent of brain injuries in, say, a workman’s compensation dispute or injury lawsuit. But current knowledge of what happens amid all that gray matter is far from the point where we can start distinguishing truth from lies and convict people for the confounding clues that our brains offer about what we think and what we have done, most neuroresearchers concede.

Your Mouth Says No, But Your Brain Says Yes

Despite their ubiquity on TV cop shows, polygraphs -- the “lie detectors” that measure changes in pulse, blood pressure and other physiological markers -- are largely scientifically discredited. But neuroscience is offering a different, potentially better path for separating truth from falsehoods: using changes in brain activity to measure recognition.

For example, a suspect could be shown a barrage of faces, one of which might be a suspected accomplice to or victim of a crime. His brain activity during this exercise could give away his relative familiarity with these people. Or he could be presented with pictures of a variety of settings, including the scene of the crime. If the brain activity patterns indicate that the suspect recognizes some aspect of the crime, that might be an important clue.

However, the researchers studying the cerebral architecture of recognition are quick to point out its limitations in the courtroom. Anthony Wagner, a cognitive neuroscientist at Stanford University, has pondered the applicability of his field to the legal system for years. In a guide to neuroscience for judges [PDF], most of Wagner’s chapter outlines the limitations of research on lie detection with functional MRIs (known as fMRIs).

“I tend to be conservative and urge caution,” Wagner says.

Just as there are ways to beat polygraph tests (controlling one’s breathing and staying calm seem to be the most popular and effective), Wagner thinks there could be countermeasures that could fool brain-scan-based lie detectors. The regions of the brain implicated in recognition and truth-telling will “light up” for other reasons as well: usually when a subject is making some sort of mental effort, like what's involved in trying to fool the test. So, if you want to beat a brain-scanning test, the trick might be as simple as doing something like arithmetic in your head to skew the results, or concentrating on something neutral – the taste of oatmeal, or the beige wallpaper in your dentist’s office -- when you’re presented with an incriminating image or statement.

Why A US Debt Default Could Push Oil Above $130


Investors -- certainly U.S. stock investors -- would be wise to keep one eye on the goings-on in Washington between congressional Democrats, Republicans and President Barack Obama, and one eye on the price of oil, West Texas Intermediate of which Friday closed down 22 cents to $102.81 per barrel.

The reason? A downgrade of the U.S. government’s credit rating – let alone a market- and economy-jarring debt default – would likely lead to a weaker dollar, higher oil prices and yet another rise in already sky-high gasoline prices. Oil, priced in dollars, tends to move higher as the U.S. dollar falls, and vice-versa. It’s a result of oil traders trying to maintain their “purchasing power” in the event of a weaker dollar

What’s more, if Democrats and Republicans can’t reach a debt deal and the U.S. government defaults on its debt in about three weeks – a far worse scenario than a credit downgrade - the dollar may decline substantially, boosting oil’s price even more, perhaps above $130 per barrel for West Texas Intermediate crude.

So far in the financial crisis era, the dollar has held its own versus the euro, trading at $1.35, at $1.60 versus the British pound, and at 98.24 versus Japan’s yen, although Japan’s monetary easing in 2013 has been a major factor in supporting the buck versus that major currency.

However, if the U.S. Treasury has to postpone certain payments in three weeks because it legally can not borrow money because the debt ceiling isn’t raised, investors would likely drive the dollar lower against the world’s other, major currencies, and in the process send oil prices much higher.

How low could the dollar go? Different stress tests real different weaker-dollar scenarios. What’s important is that a 10% decline in the dollar would probably push oil above $120.

Oil: Approaching The 'Danger Zone'

Further, the reason why one should keep an eye on oil is obvious enough: oil is in "the danger zone," from a U.S. GDP growth standpoint.

No one knows precisely at what point oil begins to substantially hinder consumer spending and slow commercial activity – but this much is known: every $1 per barrel rise in oil decreases U.S. GDP by about $100 billion per year and every 1 cent increase in gasoline decreases U.S. consumer disposable income by about $600 million per year.

READ MORE ABOUT WHY @  



How Would A Government Shutdown Affect Your Life? [Infographic]


The U.S. Senate on Friday passed a budget bill that includes full funding for Obamacare, a law that many Republicans oppose even though it was duly enacted three years ago and has been found to be constitutional by the Supreme Court. The bill now returns to the House, and if House Democrats and Republicans can’t agree on a government spending bill by Monday night, then the U.S. federal government will go into a shutdown.

If that happens, on the night of Sept. 30, when the fiscal year ends, money will stop being channeled to various government agencies and the federal government’s authority to spend taxpayers’ money would expire.

Obama said on Friday that “political grandstanding has real effects on real people” and that a government shutdown would harm millions of people.

A shutdown would not affect “mandatory” spending like Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment insurance, food stamps, national security programs, and a few others. But everything else, from the education department to national parks, would effectively temporarily shut down.

Government shutdowns are also very expensive -- a 21-day shutdown in 1995-96 cost the U.S. government $1.4 billion.



Police find horse’s body tortured, torched

Authorities launch investigation of a suspected case of animal cruelty in a forest outside Acre

Police on Sunday opened an investigation into suspected animal cruelty after a scorched horse carcass was found in a forest outside the northern city of Acre. 

The horse had apparently been tortured and repeatedly beaten before being set alight, police said.  

The disturbing case was uncovered after passersby in the woods noticed a foul smell and suspected that it may have been coming from a decaying human body, Channel 2 reported.

Police officers who arrived at the scene found the immolated horse tied to a tree by its front legs and to a rock by its hind legs, the report said.

Police notified the Acre municipality, as well as veterinarian services in the area.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/police-find-horses-body-tortured-torched/



FIVE MINUTE FUDGE--YUMMY



PAULA DEEN'S 5 MINUTE FUDGE:

Prep Time: 5 mins
Total Time: 15 mins
Servings: 20-30 

About This Recipe:

"Paula Deen is a wonderful cook. She makes down home comfort food. Everything she makes is mouth watering. This fudge is very good and easy to make!"

Ingredients

1 2/3 cups white sugar 
2/3 cup evaporated milk 
1 tablespoon unsalted butter 
1/2 teaspoon salt 
1 (6 ounce) packages milk chocolate chips 
16 large marshmallows 
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 
1 cup chopped nuts 

Direction
1.Combine sugar, milk, butter and salt in a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil, cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly. 
2.Add in chocolate chips; cook until melted. 
3.Remove from heat; stir in marshmallows, vanilla and nuts. Mix well. 
4.Pour into a 8-inch pan. 
Cool cut into squares.

Please click and share to save this recipe to your timeline and feel free to friend me or join us at Rose's weight loss support group... to learn about skinny fiber, tips, recipes, and great ideas...
.thanks
— with Elizabeth Neely and Rosemary Diggs.

 

Baby elephant tries to wake up sleeping dog.


This baby elephant really wants her best friend to wake up so they can play. Sometimes, you just have to let sleeping dogs lie 


                                           http://www.wimp.com/dogsleeping/


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Iran to explore renewal of direct flights with US

President Rouhani orders Iranian aviation authority to investigate possibility of air routes to America, which ceased after the 1979 revolution

Illustrative photo of an Iran Air 747 aircraft (photo credit: CC BY-SA contri, Flickr)

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran’s president is asking aviation authorities to study the possibility of resuming direct flights between Iran and the United States for the first time in more than three decades. 

Hasan Rouhani’s request reflects Iranian efforts to possibly build on the groundbreaking exchanges with Washington that included a telephone chat last week between the new Iranian president and President Barack Obama.  

Iran’s immediate goal is to resume talks over its nuclear program to seek easing of Western sanctions. But Tehran also appears willing to explore expanded contacts.
The semiofficial ISNA news agency quoted Akbar Torkan, a senior government official, as saying on Monday that Rouhani wants to study the options of direct flights.

More than 1 million Iranian-Americans live in California and elsewhere.


Direct flights halted after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-to-explore-renewal-of-direct-flights-with-us

Coffee Helps You Live Longer: It Also Curbs Cancer and Grows the Economy

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, people who consume coffee may live longer than their non-coffee drinking peers. The drink is undeniably delicious, and it provides that morning dose of caffeine so many of us have come to depend on. But we haven't the foggiest idea whether or not coffee actually enables us to live longer. 



Here's why.

As the researchers point out, it's impossible to tell if the relationship between coffee and mortality is "a causal or associational finding...."  The participants (229,119 men and 173,141 women, ages 50 to 71) reported their coffee drinking habits at the beginning of the study and were then followed between 1995 and 2008 to see who among them died. After adjusting for alcohol consumption, smoking, and exercise habits, participants who drank the most coffee had a lower risk of premature death. In short, this is an observational study which relied on self-reported data. And the problems with studies of this kind are well known.

Even if the association is valid and coffee does prevent early death, researchers have no way of knowing what it is that makes the drink so beneficial. There are a variety of compounds in coffee that could provide some protective effect against different diseases, but the researchers didn't look at those.

Additionally, the type of coffee and how it's prepared changes the compounds the drink contains, which can impact how healthy coffee may be. 

A lot of interesting behaviors and benefits have been linked to coffee consumption. Previous studies have found that drinking coffee may prevent breast cancer or increase chances of hallucination.

The drink could even help us fall in love and boost the global economy. But at this point, we just don't know exactly how coffee impacts our health. It's probably beneficial in some way and it probably isn't harmful. So, drink coffee because it's good, but don't treat it like it's a health miracle.


Scalloped Potatoes Done In The Crock Pot




Crock Pot Scalloped Potatoes

6 large potatoes, sliced
1 small onion, diced
8 slices bacon, uncooked diced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of chicken soup


Place half of the sliced potatoes in bottom of crock pot.
Top with half of the onions cheese and bacon.
Repeat layers in order.
Top with cream of chicken soup.
Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.

Subject: A Fisherman's Dear Abby letter...



>>> >       Dear Abby,

>>> >       I have been so blessed in my life.
>>> >      Great parents, great wife and kids, great job, and great
>>> > education.
>>> > When I finally retired, I could hardly wait to spend time enjoying my
>>> > favorite pastime -- bass fishing.

>>> >       I got my own little fishing boat and tried to get my wife to join
>>> > me,
>>> > but she just never liked fishing.
>>> > Finally, one day at the Bait & Tackle Shop, I got talking to Sam,
>>> > the shop owner, who it turned out loves bass fishing as much as I do.

>>> > We quickly became fishing buddies.
>>> >   As I said the wife doesn't care about fishing: she not only refuses
>>> > to join us, she complains that I spend too much time fishing.

>>> >   A few weeks ago Sam and I had the best fishing trip ever.
>>> >   Not only did I catch the most beautiful bass you've ever seen, only
>>> > a few minutes later Sam must have caught his twin brother!
>>> >  So I took a picture of Sam holding up the two nice bass that we
>>> > caught and showed the picture to the wife hoping that maybe she'd get
>>> > interested.

>>> >      Instead she says she doesn't want me to go fishing at all anymore!
>>> > And she wants me to sell the boat!
>>> >       I think she just doesn't like to see me enjoying myself.

>>> >       What would you do?
>>> > Tell the wife to forget it and continue my hobby or quit fishing and
>>> > sell the boat as she insists?


>>> >     Thanks,


>>> >       A fisherman

>>> >      P.S. I have enclosed the picture of Sam showing off the bass that
>> we caught

                                                                

>>> >    Dear Fisherman,

>>> >       Get rid of that narrow-minded wife.


>>> >       Abby

Passinho dance enters mainstream culture in Brazil

The Passinho is a novel kind of dance, mixing many styles, including traditional Brazilian samba. Now, this passionate dance has become popular across Brazil. 

The Passinho - which translates as "little step" - mixes pop, funk and break-dancing with traditional Brazilian samba.

It has been around for years, but its popularity spread recently through social media -- with dancers posting videos like these drawing in followers of their moves. 

The dance’s new superstars include Rio de Janeiro’s Borel slum resident Hilton Santos da Cruz, known as "Hiltinho Fantastico" - Fantastic Little Hilton:

"I first got in contact with the Passinho after I saw a video on YouTube, so I got interested and started training trying to do it like them, and this led to that, I am here today, doing it." Passinho dancer Hilton Santos Da Cruz said.

Teenagers from poor communities - with growing access to the internet -upload videos of themselves dancing at home or at parties. One of the most famous clips from 2008 got over four million views.

In Passinho gatherings, participants watch performers square off against each other in choreographed duels. 

Baile funk parties can attract hundreds of revelers dancing in close contact

Many credit it with keeping young people out of trouble and away from local gangs.

"I think that, if Passinho hadn’t reached the communities in Tijuca or outside as well, I think many young people would have got involved with crime." Passinho dancer Jonathan Batista said.

see the video coverage @

Kitty's Win


Cats Vs. Dogs 


                                                    http://biggeekdad.com/cats-vs-dogs/

In the ongoing battle of Cats Vs. Dogs I present the latest proof that cats are better than dogs. Now before you get all riled up and email me nasty comments about cats please understand I’m just presenting the evidence. So, in the spirit of being fair balanced if you think cats really are better than dogs you should probably watch Dogs Are Awesome as it just might change your mind. If your cat has been giving you weird looks you should probably read: How to Tell If Your Cat Is Plotting to Kill You. 

Puppies And Kittens In Mirrors


An entertaining look at Puppies And Kittens In Mirrors and how they react to seeing another puppy or kitty in the mirror. The puppies seem to welcome the chance to play with another dog that looks remarkably like themselves. The cats however, get all worked up and don’t appear to be that friendly to seeing another cat that resembles them. 

http://biggeekdad.com/puppies-and-kittens-in-mirrors/

Imagine Yourself In Hawaii




HAWAIIAN DREAM CAKE!!

1 package yellow cake mix
1 (20 oz.) can crushed pineapple, drained, reserve juice
1 8-ounce package cream cheese
1 (3-oz.) pkg. instant vanilla pudding
... 1 cup cold milk
1 (9-ounce) container cool whip
Nuts and coconut

Prepare cake mix according to package directions, using the reserved pineapple juice and water for the liquid called for in the directions. 

 Bake at 350° F. for about 35 minutes in a greased and floured 15 x 10 x 1 inch jelly roll (I used a 9-/12 x 13 pan).

 Cool in pan, set aside.

In a large bowl blend together cream cheese, pudding mix and milk until smooth.

 Fold in drained pineapple and spread over top of cake. 

Cover with whipped topping and sprinkle with nuts and coconut. 


Refrigerate.


tidbitsfromthesouth.net


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Hunter Catches Record-Breaking 1,100-Pound Gator In Arkansas

An alligator hunter in Arkansas is still riding off the adrenaline rush of catching a record-breaking gator this week.

Drew Baker, of Little Rock, caught the massive 1,100-pound gator with a harpoon, wrestled him for about 40 minutes and then shot him in the head. Not bad for only his second alligator hunt.

The nearly 14-foot gator was a state record-breaker by six inches, according to CNN News Wire.

"(It’s) not a good attitude for a hunter to go out expecting not to get one,” Baker told KTHV. “But they're really tough to get up on."
The rare catch is overwhelming to Baker, who had to calm his nerves to rope the giant animal in.

SEE A VIDEO AT:
                                                        http://www.huffingtonpost.com/1100-pound-gator

"Honestly I thought I don't know what I’m going to do with this thing now that I have him," Baker told KHTV.

He estimates he'll get around 400 pounds of meat from his catch and hopes to see the gator's head on display at a museum in Arkansas, according to CNN.

Just three days into alligator-hunting season, which started Sept. 1, two hunting parties also made record-breaking catches in Mississippi, nabbing a 727-pound gator as well as a 723-pounder. But those gator's got nothing on Baker's big catch.

FETTUCCINE ALFREDO (LIGHT)



Fettuccine Alfredo - Lightened-Up
Comes without ALL the guilt!

Serves 4
Prep Time 10 min

Cook Time 25 min
Total Time 35 min



Ingredients
8 oz whole wheat fettuccine pasta, uncooked
1 1/2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup fat free half & half
2 tbsp reduced sodium, fat-free chicken stock
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste
1/2 tsp pepper, or to taste
1/4 tsp garlic powder, to taste
1 1/2 oz freshly, finely shredded Parmesan cheese
2 oz Reduced fat cream cheese

Instructions

In a large pasta pot (or stock pot) bring water to a boil
Add in fettuccine noodles and cook according to package, or preference, drain set aside
In a separate saucepan over medium heat melt butter, then add in flour stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes to cook flour taste out
Slowly add-in milk, cream and chicken stock stirring constantly to prevent lumps
Add in salt, pepper and garlic powder
Let sauce come to a slow bubble and once it has thickened reduce temperature to low and add in cheeses, stirring until combined
Taste for seasoning adjustment then add in pasta and gently combine
Let stand for 5-10 minutes to continue to thicken-up
Serve with fresh chopped parsley or additional parmesan cheese is desired

Each serving is 9 WW+ points

Nutritional Info

Calories: 354 Total Fat: 10.5 g Saturated Fat: 6 g Trans Fat: 0.2 g Cholesterol: 28.3 mg
Sodium: 694.4 mg Total Carbs: 52.8 g Dietary Fiber: 6.3 g Sugars: 3.9 g Protein: 13.5 g
By MJ Adapted from Cooking Light

_________________________________________

For more healthy recipes, tips, motivation, and fun, join us at Slimmer You

Please FOLLOW me; I am always posting awesome stuff on my timeline too! www.facebook.com/kelly.bagnasco
— with Daisy Ramos.

Iowan Gets Surprise He Will Never Forget

VIDEO DESCRIPTION:

An Iowa soldier surprises his brother by coming home during a school assembly in Winterset. Iowa.


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New Island Off Pakistan's Coast May Be Mud Volcano, Scientists Say (PHOTOS)

A new island emerged from the ocean offshore of the city of Gwadar, Pakistan, after a strong magnitude-7.7 earthquake shook the country Sept. 24.

The mound appears to be 20 to 40 feet (6 to 12 meters) high and 100 feet (30 m) wide, DIG Gwadar Moazzam Jah, a district police officer, told Pakistan's Geo News. It rose out of the sea at a spot located about 350 feet (100 m) from the coast, he said.

The news sparked lively chatter among geologists, who debated whether the hill was a landslide, a fault scarp or even a hoax. A fault scarp marks vertical displacement along a fault, anything from a small step to a huge, steep cliff.

Scientists are still far from consensus, but many think that Pakistan's newest piece of land may be a mud volcano.

Geologist Bob Yeats, an expert on Pakistan's earthquake hazards, said he's waiting until he hears from his colleagues in Pakistan before judging the case. The two most likely possibilities are a landslide or a mud volcano, Yeats told LiveScience's OurAmazingPlanet.

Yeats said Gwadar is several hundred kilometers southwest of the earthquake's epicenter, making it highly unlikely that the new island is a fault scarp.

In this photo released by the Gwadar local government office on Wednesday, Sept 25, 2013, people walk on an island that reportedly emerged off the Gwadar coastline in the Arabian Sea. 

"[The island] is a long way from where they reported the earthquake. We're looking at two different things," said Yeats, an emeritus professor at Oregon State University.

A mud volcano is a likely possibility because Gwadar's coastline already has several of the gurgling, steamy cones, both onshore and at sea. One suddenly popped up where sea level was 30 to 60 meters (100 to 200 feet) deep on Nov. 26, 2010, creating an island. NASA satellites snapped a photo of the birth. [7 Ways the Earth Changes in the Blink of an Eye]

And in 1945, the magnitude-8.1 Makran temblor triggered the formation of mud volcanoes offshore of Gwadar, according to a study on mud volcanoes in Pakistan published in 2005. A recent study in the journal Nature Geoscience also suggests the 1945 earthquake released tons of methane from the seafloor.

read me here:


This May Be The Coolest Way Ever To Quit Your Job

Now this is exactly what it looks like to go out with a bang. 

On Saturday, writer Marina Shifrin uploaded an epic video onto YouTube with one simple message for her boss: she quits. 

Shifrin, 25, previously worked at  Next Media Animation, a Taiwanese animator. In the video, she dances around her office at odd hours of the night while describing exactly why she needs to leave her job.

"For almost two years I've sacrificed my relationships, time and energy for this job," she explains. "And my boss only cares about quantity and how many views each video gets. So I figured I'd make ONE video of my own."

In a Skype chat with The Huffington Post, Shifrin wrote that the Taiwanese work environment is very different from the American work environment. She got no lunch break and her boss was constantly changing her schedule and responsibilities. After her managers failed to help her, she decided to make the video.

see the video here--  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/quit-your-job-kayne-dance

"I understood that it was a risk, but I never named the company or my boss and I mean, have you seen my dancing? How can anyone take that seriously," she said. 

Shifrin said her first move is to come back to The United States. After that, she plans on looking for jobs at companies that value creativity and their employees.

Hats off to you Shifrin, way to win the Internet. 

(h/t Gawker)

7 Surprising Discoveries About Sex

The average clitoris is about as long as the average penis.

September 18, 2013   |   

1. If the G-spot exists, it might explain why some men enjoy anal sex and some women don’t.

Scientists are still arguing about whether the G-spot exists, but one theory is that the coin-sized area on the anterior wall of the vagina might be the Skene’s glands. If so, this explains why some women who report G-spot sensations also experience female ejaculation, a pleasurable expulsion of a (mystery) fluid upon orgasm. This is because the Skene’s are the female equivalent of the male prostate gland, which produces a fluid that contributes to the content of semen.

What does this have to do with men liking anal sex?

Well, if stimulating the G-spot is pleasurable for women, we might expect that stimulating the prostate gland might produce similarly pleasurable feelings for men. The prostate gland can be stimulated through—you guessed it—anal intercourse. So, the prostate is one reason some men may enjoy receiving anal sex even more than some women.

2. There’s no such thing as a “vaginal orgasm.”

Yes, some women have orgasms in response to penile-vaginal sex, but that doesn’t make it a vaginal orgasm. All orgasms are clitoral orgasms. Sometimes women have orgasms in the absence of clitoral stimulation. Women, after all, can have orgasms in their sleep just like men. If they can have orgasms in the absence of any stimulation at all, it makes sense this can also happen in response to a wide range of experiences. When a woman has an orgasm because someone is caressing her face, however, we don’t call it a “face orgasm.” If she has one because someone is rubbing her thigh, we don’t call a “thigh orgasm.”

So what’s all the fuss about the vaginal orgasm? Given that men predictably orgasm as a result of penile-vaginal intercourse, it would be mighty convenient if women’s bodies did, too. The idea of the vaginal orgasm brings women’s bodies into alignment with what men’s bodies supposedly want. It’s all about re-visioning women’s bodies through a lens that prioritizes male sexual pleasure. In fact, even though only about 30% of women routinely have orgasms during intercourse, 67% of women and 86% of men think that women should be having orgasms from intercourse alone. Sometimes they do and sometimes they don’t, but we should stop using terminology that confuses the issue.

3. Breasts are sexual organs after all.

You’ve long suspected it and now we know it’s true: breasts are reproductive and sexual organs. A study using functional magnetic resonance imaging—a process that allows us to watch changes in blood flow to parts of the brain in real time—found that the part of the brain responsible for recognizing genital sensation also responds to nipple stimulation. 

To my knowledge the study hasn’t been repeated with male subjects, but given that men and women overwhelmingly have the same anatomy and physiology, I’m going to go on record predicting that the same findings would apply.

4. Concern about penis size is mostly a guy thing...

Almost half of men say they would prefer to have a larger penis. For these guys, worrying about penis size is correlated not just with anxiety about sex, but feeling less positive about their overall attractiveness. Concern about penis size even influences how a man feels about the handsomeness of his face.

Meanwhile, 85% of women with male partners are perfectly happy with the size of his penis. I know of no research correlating female perceptions of handsomeness with penis size, but I’m gonna guess that’s a guy thing too.

5. ...and mostly unfounded.

In contrast to the examples people encounter in pornography, the average penis is a humble 5.57 inches long when erect. More than two-thirds of men fall within one inch of the average and 95% fall within two. So, despite the fact that half of men are worried about their penis size, the majority are average, pretty darn close to average, or above average. The rest shouldn’t worry too much about it. See #4. That said…

6. The clitoris is much bigger than you think.

If men come in two types—growers and showers—women are non-disclosers. Textbooks often describe the clitoris as a cylindrical structure found at the top of a woman’s vulva. Sometimes it’s described as the “size of a pea," and it’s almost always described as small.

In fact, the average clitoris is about as long as the average penis. The part that can be seen is just the tip of a long structure that separates into two branches that lay on either side of the urethra and vagina. The entire clitoris is erectile, adding to the pleasure of vaginal intercourse for women.

7. You probably have a pretty good idea what it feels like to be the other sex.

While we often think of male and female sexual anatomy as opposite, our bodies aren’t as different as they may seem. Nor are our orgasms, it turns out.

The external genitalia of both men and women come from the same fetal tissue. What will eventually become the scrotum in men becomes the outer labia in women; the shaft of the penis shares its origins with the inner labia; the erectile tissue in the penis is the same erectile tissue we find in the clitoris; and the head of the penis and head of the clitoris come from the same tissue as well (fun fact: this means that the head of the clitoris has the same number of nerve endings as the head of the penis, just more densely packed). So, the sensations we experience when those parts of our bodies are touched probably aren’t that different. 

Likewise, in both men and women the experience of orgasm involves muscle contractions in the pelvic floor starting at about 0.8 per second with a declining interval until resolution. Both Kinsey and Masters and Johnson argued that sexual response was quite similar between the sexes. 

All that’s quite clinical, but creative ways of measuring the experience of orgasm more personally tells a similar story. Way back in the 1970s, a team of researchers collected 48 descriptions of orgasm (half from men and half from women), stripped them of obvious markers of sex (like body parts), and asked 70 doctors and psychologists to indicate which were written by men or women. All failed to do so with any accuracy at all. The experience of orgasm, then, is probably pretty similar whether you’re a man or a woman.




Lisa Wade holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in sociology and an M.A. in human sexuality. She is a professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.