Perhaps the definition of 20/20 should be expounded to include wisdom. I understand the physical limitations thing, and it does impact upon the ability of people, but there are many aspects to an ideal that are often overlooked by our perceptions. A man in Europe with no grey matter for instance with only a brain stem and cerebrospinal fluid and a completely normal IQ for instance. We have no idea of what they perceive through touch or sound or some other as yet undefined sense perhaps?
The serial killer is a choice. Not a proper one for a loving family but my father was a serial maniac and I have never once followed in his deviant footsteps. Choice I do believe. Mankind was much closer to death and war in its youth but still art grew out of a being that was primarily concerned with survival and fear.
She is too, as she puts up with me and that is not a chore I relish on the best of days. I only do it because my brain and I share a residence... a tenuous relationship at best.
Ah my dear you are barking up the wrong tree. The world looks at our television shows and laughs (not in the way they were intended to ivoke but rather in derision or pity). We have atrocious weather that keeps all but the hardiest of beings far away and more guns per capita than the US. In general we can live unaided in the wilds for far too long to route from our hidey holes. Hence the penchant for beer, as long as we remain sedated we are no threat to anyone. Drive the price of beer too high though... or give us another hockey strike and then the world will know true fear...
Well in truth the only way to get pissed off is to climb someone's leg, especially a woman's leg unbidden. Might have something to do with plumbing that does not come with a barrel for aiming though and is quite messy. I am a gentleman first and foremost and do no such thing so I suppose by this definition I am safe.
The diversity of humanity is unbounded. Is electricity contained within the wire? In truth it uses the wire as a means of transmission. If the wire is frayed or of some impure form it cannot relay its current as clearly as the finer conductors. The same is true for humans. We are none of us born with music. We perchance may have the internal wiring to manage the finest of its abilities but require the environment and discovery to allow it to flourish. There are different abilities present in our form that allow some to excel beyond their peers. A natural affinity so to speak but there must be some connection to allow us to realize it. A man born and raised by wolves could be the greatest pianist in the world if he but ran across a piano but otherwise he will never attain this grace. Inside the human condition lies the endless possibilities to excel at everything. Not all in one but the whole of humanity. Even beyond this natural mastery there are those who can manage through practice, dilligence, personal devotion and learning to become near matches. More effort but similar results in the end. We are all born with the purest form of Love rife in our lives and our environment dulls or strengthens it to the point where it is so diluted that it no longer represents what it began as or manages to maintain the purity through understanding.
You are no man dear lady. The OP is not one either to limit the finer gender to such baseless attributes. He is angry and cannot see the forest for the trees. Money would be useless were it not for women and the beauty they inspire louts such as us to aspire towards, both for ourselves, and the apples of our eyes. Culture and art would still be clubs and bloody skins without the grace of women who inspire the greatness of men with any modicum of vision. To all the women of the world I give great thanks from the bottom of my heart for kickstarting evolution. My knuckles thank you as well, as I could not take the dragging thing with any sort of dignity.
You are most welcome. Information is the primary reason I bothered to get hooked up with the internet. Normally I am a Luddite and morally a technophobe but we live in a very automated world and had to fall victim to some of it I suppose. My original purpose for the internet and the computer was to write as I do so Love the written word and its beauty and inspiration. Then I realized my insatiable curiosity to know things and my childish limited patience for waiting for said information was becoming detrimental to others (especially in the wee hours of the night when I most often encountered thoughts while reading). My best friend has had the internet for years and I would be driven to seek his mystical machine's ability to decipher words that once they had lodged themselves in my thick skull would prevent me from moving past them. When reading I refuse to pass a word of uncertain definition, and then I wonder of its origin and other likely terms due to translational issues with myriad languages... To lose a single word in a sentence distorts the meaning. To lose but one sentence in a paragraph... or one paragraph in a chapter... so to until the book itself is lost and then I have to wonder how to get my hours spent in its precious pages back. Futility of course so I had no choice but to reach out to the digital media for instant gratification and the possibility of sleep again. My dictionaries, and encyclopaedias have only so much information and cannot keep up with the present nor reliantly define the past to the degree I require so the internet became a new toy for me. But now the most idiotic of ideas in my head has the recourse to become viable and I am quickly filling my head with more mundane trivial gobbledegook than is required in a dozen lifetimes. So I suppose in reality I should appologize and warn you in advance of my predilection for silliness at times.
Love is not a part of any human or living being. It is an outside source, which we are indelibly marked with at birth. The nature of life is mainly physical and this distinction divides our being into more substantial forms of perception. Fortunately we all have the presence of Love in our lives to some extent to teach us to return to this source. Once we take Love into our being it nourishes our ability to share it. Sort of like unclogging the drains. When two people have both managed to fix their wiring to accept this energy again then they stand a decent chance of surviving the challenges of a relationship. Nurturing each other promises more success. Oddly I cannot help but believe that in some cases there is a distinct selection outside of our hands in these matches. Not that they automatically work unless both come together in the time that they have (d)evolved(?) their spiritual plumbing to the point it originated with.
The economic aspirations of a nation often manage to swindle the life out of our Loved ones. I believe in the purity of all humans and am saddened that patriotism subjugates the youth to perform deeds that leave a stain upon our families and cultures. Iran is just coming back into its preeminence of times past. The rules are not much different but the political environment has far too many who will stand against any newcomers. War is not any sort of victory and Iran is quite clear in its desires for such. Perhaps not the individuals but assuredly the nation itself. The Middle-East is a hotbed of strife and one ember or two might not be much in a nation not surrounded by weapon caches but there even lighting a smoke can get you killed from the powder lines crisscrossing the lands. I agree that much of what is happeneing there is influenced by greed but not all of it. Reaction is as detrimental as action at times.
I prefer to remember the great Persian Empire rather than the current regime. This does not speak in any way negative in regards to individuals but rather to yet another country coming into its own and seeking to follow the ways of warmongering. Defense requires attack but neither are truly responsible actions to the mothers of those lost to needless wars of greed and 'righteousness.' The last thing the world needs is another monster looking to flex its muscle. Persia was once reknowned for its vast culture and this is quickly being replaced with the supremacist ideal of domination. There is glory in war for the victor to be certain but far too much death for the loved ones on either side. The common man will see nothing of this great boon. It merely substantiates the political hydra that runs about the globe slaying the children of nations with its own. I would prefer to see a return to reason, romance and life. I suppose this is part of living in a land that does not often war. Our greatest war is the greatest tragedy we have in our history. I would never go to war but there is no way I would stand idle if it came to my door threatening my loved ones. The coward dies a thousand deaths, the brave man dies but once. I will be present for my death, vibrantly alive and aware but I will not choose it merely face it.
Damn you have it made I really do not like snow very much. It even snowed in July on my frikken birthday here. It never lasted but it sure as heck scared the crap out of me when I was a child. I couldn't help researching the Ice Age... damn penchant for dinosaurs...
I am just in a mood of sorts today. My heart is filled with anxiety over circumstances in my life. Yet I choose to see the best in every day against all odds. Thanks T for the kind words both here and in person, they have a most serene magic that lifts the spirit when it needs a friendly boost. Not a kick mind you I have already had enough of those for a while. Even though they worked wonders too I am off for the weekend and would like to be able to sit down for part of it.
I have a list of people I know All written in a book And every year at Christmastime I go and take a look And that is when I realise That those names are a part Not of the book they're written in But of my very heart
For each name stands for someone Who has crossed my path some time And in that meeting they've become A treasured friend of mine And once you've met some people The years can not erase The memory of a pleasant word Or a friendly face
So when I send a Christmas card That is addressed to you It's because you're on that list Of folk I'm indebted to And you are one of many folk who In times past I've met And happen to be one of those I don't want to forget
And whether I have known you for Many years or few In some way you have a part in Shaping things I do This, the spirit of Christmas, that Forever and ever endures May it leave it richest blessing In the hearts of you and yours.
We Canucks have our yards full of the stuff. Postage would be a killer for the COD and all you would get is enough water to convince you that we really came from Atlantis...
“Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Watch your words, for they become actions. Watch your actions, for they become habits. Watch your habits, for they become character. Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”
Why do people think negative things all the time? Wouldn't it be better to focus on the positives? If we think that someone will be what we least desire then in effect we are creating our own misery by seeking this self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. Choose rather to believe in Hope Faith and Love and you will attract this into your own life. Be what you want, and you will find it and more importantly yourself.
25. How Many Licks Does It Take to Get to the Center of a Tootsie Pop?
No thanks to that animated owl and his woeful lack of willpower, this question has plagued the American public ever since the commercial first aired in 1970. Fortunately, there have been plenty of noble efforts to get to the bottom (or center, as the case may be) of it all.
But the answer depends on who you ask. A group of students at Swarthmore Junior High conducted an extensive study on the subject and concluded that getting to the center of a Tootsie Pop took a statistical average of 144 licks.
However, the more ambitious and distrusting engineering students at Purdue University chose instead to rely on a "licking machine" modeled after the human tongue for their results, and found that it took an average of 364 licks. Other studies have been done, and all results vary, so only one thing is certain: The world may never know.
Post Company founder Charles W. Post might have been good at creating popular cereals, but he wasn’t the best at naming them.
One of his first breakfast treats, Post Toasties, was originally known by the more, er, zealous name, Elijah’s Manna.
And then there’s the misleading Grape-Nuts®, which Charles named after a key ingredient in the cereal called maltose, which tasted like nuts and, at the time, was known as "grape sugar." Hence, Grape-Nuts.
It may sound like false advertising, but it’s not. Post would likely be protected from such allegations by that precious little hyphen. The Federal Trade Commission might consider a cereal called Grape Nuts "deceitful," but that hyphen makes the name "fanciful," which excludes it from prosecution according to the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act.
Ah, Sea-Monkeys®. You know ‘em; you love ‘em; you’re totally confused by them. Well, consider he monkey mystery solved. Turns out, they’re Artemia salinas, or brine shrimp.
In the 1960’s, inventor Harold von Braunhut discovered that the eggs of these shrimp lie dormant in salt flats waiting for the right conditions before they spring to life, so he started experimenting with them for his toy product, Instant-Life. But later, he changed the name (and struck pop culture gold) after a colleague heard him call the creatures his "cute little sea monkeys."
The shrimp became popular because of their ability to "come back to life" after being stored dry on a shelf, but hey weren’t so popular after children discovered that the shrimp only had a life span of about a month.
Over the years, however, Von Braunhut has managed to breed better Sea-Monkeys®. Today’s comic book ads now promise that they will live up to two years. Von Braunhut, who passed away in 2003, was also the man responsible for X-Ray Specs, and the late 1980s’ hermit crab craze.
If Jell-O® ads and 1950’s cookbooks are to be believed, you can mix almost anything with gelatin and have it come out tasty. Ham? Absolutely. Carrots? Sure thing. Tomato soup? M’m, m’m, good.
The only ingredient that seems to be taboo is one that actually sounds delicious: fresh pineapple. Unfortunately, the tropical treat works like kryptonite on Jell-O® because it contains an enzyme called bromelain, which prevents gelatin from forming into a solid.
But fret not, fruit salad mold fans: canned pineapple doesn’t contain bromelain. The canning process heats the pineapple to a temperature sufficient to break the enzyme down, making it oh-so Jell-O® friendly.
20. Can You Actually Sense Weather with an Injured body Part?
There was a time when scientists would walk barefoot, through the snow, uphill both ways, just to ridicule you for believing that sensing weather with the body was anything but an old wives’ tale.
Today, many will still scoff at the idea, but maybe just in an email. In 1961, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School conducted a series of tests that proved changes in climate could affect your health, especially if you suffered from arthritis.
It works like this: When a storm is approaching, the barometric pressure of the air falls, which can cause an inflammation around a bone injury to swell and stretch, irritating the nerves around the joint and causing a lot of pain.
The Pennsylvania scientists tested their theory on 12 volunteers in a climate-controlled chamber, and found that those who had arthritis experienced more pain when the air pressure was lower, thus suggesting that they could sense an approaching storm.
19. Human Meat Isn’t Appetizing, But is It Healthy?
You are what you eat. So it stands to reason that if you’re a cannibal, and you eat a diseased, dead guy, you’re going to become a diseased, dead guy.
But the cannibalistic Fore people of New Guinea found that out the hard way. For most of the 20th century, the Fore were plagued with a disease called Kuru , also known as the laughing death. Kuru, a relative of mad cow disease, paralyzes its victims and cause dementia by turning the brain into something resembling Swiss cheese - literally creating holes in the brain.
Fascinated by what he though was a genetic disorder, scientist Daniel Carleton Gajdusek traveled to New Guinea in 1957 to study the Fore. While there, he discovered that women made up the vast majority of Kuru victims. He also noticed that women and children were the ones ceremonially eating the brains and intestines of dead relatives. Putting two and two together, Gajdusek deduced that the Fore were ingesting the prions, or misshapen proteins, that caused the disease.
Gajdusek received a Nobel Prize for his work, and today, cannibalism and Kuru are all but wiped out in New Guinea.
That depends on what your definition of is, is. According to the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, countries can’t own lunar real state. However, the Treaty doesn’t say anything about the rights of individuals to claim land.
Enter Dennis Hope, a California entrepreneur / ventriloquist who’d exploited the loophole to its fullest. In 1980, Hope announced his ownership to the moon (and, incidentally, the rest of the solar system) and promptly started selling off plots through his company, Lunar Embassy.
Space-faring nations vehemently denied the legality of Hope’s business, pointing to the 1979 Moon Treaty, which forbids individual interstellar land investment. Finding yet another loophole, Hope countered by nothing that none of the space nations ever actually signed that treaty after the U.S. and Russia both refused.
But Moon Treaty or not, an individual can still only own land through the jurisdiction of his or her home country, and if nations can’t own it, then people can’t own land through them.
Tenuous as his argument is, Hope has still managed to inspire some serious investors. To date, the Lunar Embassy has made more than $1.6 million. If you’re interested, plots go for as little as $30, but don’t spend all your money on moon land: mental_floss has some contacts with beautiful oceanfront lots in Arizona and we’d love to get you in on the ground floor.
The first blackmailers were Scottish landlords who exploited farmers by making them pay rent in livestock or services if they couldn’t pay in cash. The goods they had to hand over were usually worth more than the rent owned, and the landlords didn’t make change.
Around the same time, local chieftains started going after the same farmers with the kind of scheme the mafia usually refers to as "selling insurance." They made an offer the farmers couldn’t refuse: pay a fee for protection. If the farmers didn’t pay, then the chieftains would unfortunately be unable to prevent ruffians from destroying crops and sacking property.
The Scottish farmers called both nefarious deals "black" because they associated that color with evil, and because both payments were made in goods rather than silver coins (called "white money"). As for the "mail" part, it doesn’t refer to the postal system. That "mail" comes from the German word for "pouch." The "mail" in blackmail is related to the Old Norse word for "payment" or "agreement."
15. We Know Nothing Better Has Come Along Since then, But Who Invented Sliced Bread Anyway?
It may get a lot of credit now, but at the time of its debut in 1928, sliced bread received less-than-rave reviews.
Baker and inventor Otto Frederick Rohwedder had spent 15 years perfecting his bread slicer (finally settling on one that wrapped the sliced bread to hold it together as opposed to the hat pins he’d tried earlier), but consumers weren’t quick to convert. People found the sliced bread strange and senseless. It wasn’t until the advent of Wonder Bread, and the collective realization that sliced bread worked better in the toaster, that Rohwedder’s invention really took off.
By World War II, the military was using sliced bread to serve peanut butter & jelly sandwiches as part of soldiers’ rations. Previously uncommon, the PB&J gained a loyal following among servicemen, who kept making the sandwich, sliced bread and all, after they came back to the home front.
14. How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck if a Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood?
Probably none. Woodchucks aren’t particularly tree-oriented, and while they can climb to find food, they prefer being on the ground.
In fact, they got the name "woodchuck" from British trappers who couldn’t quite wrap their tongues around the Cree Indian name "wuchak." More commonly (and accurately) known as groundhogs, these animals are closely related to squirrels, marmots, and prairie dogs, with which they share an affinity for burrowing.
And actually, a burrowing woodchuck can chuck dirt, in the form of tunnels that can reach five feet deep and as much as 35 feet in length. So, based on that number, New York State wildlife expert Richard Thomas calculated that if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he could chuck as much as 700 pounds of the stuff.
And the award goes to: Turkey-the-country! Turns out, turkey-the-bird is native to North America and acquired its name when the Spanish brought it from Mexico to Europe. When the bird made its debut in England, it was mistaken for a Guinea Hen, a common fowl regularly imported from Africa by Turks. Then the English, demonstrating that they are the real turkeys in this story, named the bird after its supposed importers.
Grandfather clocks are grandfather clocks for much the same reason M.C. Hammer pants are M.C. Hammer pants: It’s all about the pop music.
In 1875, American songwriter Henry Work checked in for a stay at the George Hotel in North Yorkshire, England. In the lobby was a large pendulum clock that had belonged to the inn’s pervious owners, both deceased. The clock was said to have stopped dead - to the minute - on the day the last surviving owner died.
Work thought this was a great story and went on to fictionalize it in a song called "My Grandfather’s Clock ." The lyrics centered around a clock that was "taller by half than the old man himself" and that "stopped short never to go again" when the grandfather died. It was, obviously, a runaway hit. Work sold over a million copies in sheet music, and eventually, the term "grandfather clock" became attached to the style of clock that inspired the song.
11. Why Do Most Snooze Buttons Only Give You Nine More Minutes of Sleep?
By the time the snooze feature was added in the 1950’s, the innards of alarm clocks had long been standardized.
This meant that the teeth on the snooze gear had to mesh with the existing gear configuration, leaving engineers with a single choice: They could set the snooze for either a little more than nine minutes, or a little more than 10 minutes.
Reports indicated that 10 minutes was too long, since it allowed people to fall back into a "deep" sleep, so clock makers chose the nine-minute gear, believing people would wake up easier and happier after a shorter snooze. We’d tend to disagree with that logic, but, then we must be in the lazy minority.
Although today’s digital clocks can be programmed to have a snooze of any length, most stick with nine minutes because that’s what consumers expect.
BarrenPneuma Forum Posts (1,561)
RE: Is love enough?
Perhaps the definition of 20/20 should be expounded to include wisdom. I understand the physical limitations thing, and it does impact upon the ability of people, but there are many aspects to an ideal that are often overlooked by our perceptions.A man in Europe with no grey matter for instance with only a brain stem and cerebrospinal fluid and a completely normal IQ for instance. We have no idea of what they perceive through touch or sound or some other as yet undefined sense perhaps?
The serial killer is a choice. Not a proper one for a loving family but my father was a serial maniac and I have never once followed in his deviant footsteps. Choice I do believe.
Mankind was much closer to death and war in its youth but still art grew out of a being that was primarily concerned with survival and fear.