[An Nahar] Volunteers are searching for a pair of wallabies hopping through Austria -- yes, Austria.
The kangaroo-like marsupials, which are smaller than "roos" and primarily found in Australia, escaped from a farm in the Upper Austrian countryside, about 180 kilometers (about 110 miles) northwest of Vienna. Thursday was the third day of the quest to find them.
There are actually three wallabies on the loose -- owner Gabrielle Schrammel says the female has a joey in her pouch.
Austrians often express irritation at being confused for Australians while abroad, and mail meant for Australia occasionally surfaces in this central European Alpine country.
Those Vienna souvenir shops selling T-shirts with the slogan "No kangaroos in Austria" might have to start a recall campaign.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#6
As always the internet proves an endless source of information.
I saw the wallabies at a place called Kinder Scout in 1978/79. One of the remotest places in England, and 40 miles north of where they are documented to live.
Temperature affects how much sperm a man makes, so there's been speculation that the freedom offered by a kilt can increase production. Turns out that that at least could be right: a new metastudy says wearing a kilt "likely produces an ideal physiological scrotal environment, which in turn helps maintain normal scrotal temperature, which is known to be beneficial for robust spermatogenesis and good sperm quality." Wonder who funded this study.
The study (PDF), published in the Scottish Medical Journal, reviewed the literature on the link between scrotal temperature and reproduction. We know sperm fares better in lower temperatures, and some researchers have suggested that restrictive clothing could negatively affect sperm production. Enter: the kilt, which author Erwin J.O. Kompanje describes thusly: "The Scottish kilt is a male garment that resembles (but is not!) a knee-length, pleated skirt." A kilt is very comfortable to wear and nothing ever gets caught in a zipper.
The author hypothesizes that, based on past findings about temperature and sperm production, a kilt, specifically one worn in the undergarment-free "regimental" style, would be an ideal environment for sperm production. Boys gotta have room.
Kompanje searched through related research, focusing on statistics in Scotland and noting along the way that 70 percent of kilt-wearers choose to go regimental. Kilts (at least in Scotland or other countries where they're more commonly worn) might also be psychologically valuable, increasing feelings of masculinity when worn. Kompanje goes so far as to write that a downturn in Scottish fertility is correlated with the frequency of kilts being worn, although he admits it's still somewhat speculative until a randomized trial happens.
Gentlemen, put on your kilts for science.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/20/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
pretty obviously hipster skinny jeans affect testosterone. Go to a mall and take a look and tell me I'm wrong
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/20/2013 9:59 Comments ||
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I remember this sort of discussion coming up in the boxer vs. briefs debate.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/20/2013 11:15 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] A fatwa published this week by Morocco's higher council of religious scholars (CSO) calling for the death penalty for Mohammedans who renounce their faith has sparked fierce controversy in the country.
The scholars, who represent official Islam in Morocco, said in their edict, published in Tuesday's edition of Arabic-language daily Akhbar al-Youm, that Mohammedans who reject their faith "should be condemned to death."
The fatwa, which has provoked strong reactions, dates back to April 2012 when a legal report was being prepared by the government, but it was not published at the time, according to local media.
Mahjoub El Hiba, a senior human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... official in the government, denied in a statement to the official MAP news agency having requested any such fatwa from the council of Islamic scholars, as Akhbar al-Youm had claimed.
"What was published in the document attributed to the CSO does not concern our government and commits us to nothing," Hiba told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"I am not authorized to request advice or fatwas from the CSO. I do not have to comment on what a constitutional body like this does," he added.
The CSO is the only institution entitled to issue fatwas in Morocco.
The ministry of Islamic affairs declined to comment on the issue.
Morocco's penal code does not explicitly prohibit apostasy, which is illegal in most Mohammedan countries, and punishable by death in some states such as Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , although in practice people are rarely executed for renouncing their faith.
But Moroccan law states that "anyone attempting to undermine the faith of a Mohammedan or convert him to another religion" risks six months to three years in prison.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Nicolas Maduro was sworn in as president of Venezuela on Friday, taking the oath of office in the memory of the late Hugo Chavez to cheers in the National Assembly.
"I swear it before the eternal memory of the supreme commander," he said after being read the oath by National Assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello.
Cheers broke out in the packed assembly as the presidential sash was placed over the 50-year-old Maduro, who was elected president Sunday in snap elections to replace Chavez, who died of cancer on March 5 after 14 years in power.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2013 00:00 ||
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A United Nations anti-racism committee has accused Germany of breaking an international agreement by allowing the controversial ex-politician Thilo Sarrazin to spread inflammatory ideas about Muslims with impunity.
Four years after the former central banker triggered a public outcry with his book Deutschland schafft sich ab - Wie wir unser Land aufs Spiel setzen (Germany does away with itself - How we're putting our country at jeopardy), Sarrazin's opinions have been officially recognised as racist by the UN.
The UN charges that Germany broke an international anti-racism accord by ignoring Sarrazin's anti-Turkish and anti-Muslim statements. At the time, many had defended Sarrazin's right to express his opinions.
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#3
ISLAM in its existing definition has no place in Europe or America. Until Muslims cease their mission to introduce further Islamic conditions upon us then Muslims shall be deemed fully accountable. It is NOT ROCKET SCIENCE
Police in Calgary dismissed accusations that a local Muslim group was guilty of anti-Semitic hate crimes.
Bnai Brith Canada said earlier this week that two anti-Semitic articles posted on the website for the Muslim Council of Calgary could cause violent hostility toward Jews and possibly amounted to a hate crime. The charges were dropped by Calgary police.
Calgary police hate crimes coordinator Eric Levesque said, The Jewish and Muslim communities in Calgary have a very good relationship. I dont know what Bnai Briths motivations are.
Levesque said that although the material might be offensive, it did not reach a criminal level.
The articles in question accused Jews of debauchery and immorality and of deviating from the Torah when it came to Israel. One of the articles quoted The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, citing a Jewish plot to destroy religion. That post was removed earlier this week.
The "master suite" is being phased out -- not from our homes, but from our lexicon.
A survey of 10 major Washington, D.C.-area homebuilders found that six no longer use the term "master" in their floor plans to describe the largest bedroom in the house....Why? In large part for exactly the reason you would think: "Master" has connotation problems, in gender (it skews toward male) and race (the slave-master).
#2
When they came for the master bedroom, I said nothing because I was not a realtor. When they came for the master cylinder, the situation was unstoppable.
#8
No, next is Master Debater defined as one who lays out the bate so well that he is universally recognized for his talent without question and has the ability to speak eloquently on any subject. Now repeat the phrase 5 times quickly: Master Debater... Master Debater...Master Debater...Master Debater... Ah!
#12
I think it is more over-the-top marketing than sensitivity -
The terminology has more of an upscale tone to it, particularly in some of the really large homes that truly have a large bedroom, sitting area, enormous walk-in closets, and lavish bathrooms, Block wrote in an email. Owner Suite conveys a sense of being distinguished, having made it or arrived rather than the everyday Master Bedroom.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/20/2013 17:27 Comments ||
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[An Nahar] The United States unveiled plans Friday to sell $10 billion worth of advanced missiles and aircraft to Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... in a bid to counter the threat posed by Iran.
Certainly the taxes on those sales will help the American budget deficit... and unlike Egypt, these countries can afford it.
It was highly unusual for the Pentagon to announce an arms deal covering three countries and the move seemed to be designed to send a warning to Iran that Washington's partners in the region were beefing up their military power.
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Posted by: Fred ||
04/20/2013 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[An Nahar] Volunteers are searching for a pair of wallabies hopping through Austria -- yes, Austria.
A United Nations anti-racism committee has accused Germany of breaking an international agreement by allowing the controversial ex-politician Thilo Sarrazin to spread inflammatory ideas about Muslims with impunity.
The "master suite" is being phased out -- not from our homes, but from our lexicon.
