California Psychics [disclaimer: daily mantra is associated with California Psychics] has posted its celebrity psychic predictions for 2007. Want to know the scoop on Britney, LiLo, Pamela Anderson and more?
Hopping across the pond to the UK, Shay predicts engagement is in the cards this year for Prince William, and Martha tells us to expect a return to the limelight for Jennifer Lopez and her husband Mark Anthony. However, adds the psychic, it won't be for JLo's old diva-like behavior.
There's a fascinating article in the Economist on science's first look into free will. The concept of free will is that you have a choice - and responsibility for your actions based on your choice. But if you don't have choice, something that happened to you outside of your responsibility, do you have free will or are you merely stimulus-response acting? This is exactly the question brought up in the article, which tells the following fascinating story.
IN THE late 1990s a previously blameless American began collecting child pornography and propositioning children. On the day before he was due to be sentenced to prison for his crimes, he had his brain scanned. He had a tumour. When it had been removed, his paedophilic [sic] tendencies went away. When it started growing back, they returned. When the regrowth was removed, they vanished again. Who then was the child abuser?
It's an interesting question, especially with the previous story in mind. But take a walk through your neighborhood grocery store. Yes, you have the choice to choose the items you want to buy; however advertising and marketing and brand image program you to react and respond in certain ways to certain products. This is similar
Markets also depend on the idea that personal choice is free choice. Mostly, that is not a problem. Even if choice is guided by unconscious instinct, that instinct will usually have been honed by natural selection to do the right thing. But not always. Fatty, sugary foods subvert evolved instincts, as do addictive drugs such as nicotine, alcohol and cocaine. Pornography does as well. Liberals say that individuals should be free to consume these, or not. Erode free will, and you erode that argument.
The bottom line to me, is not whether we have or exercise free will - it's that we take responsibility for our actions. Because is it really free will, if we've been programmed to act certain ways when stimulated with specific items?
Did you know that Gerald Ford, who past away this week on Tuesday at the age of 93, was remembered for damage control after Nixon's impeachment of course-- but was also famous for being in favor of full disclosure on the topic of UFO's?
As a U. S. Congressman in 1966, Ford stuck his neck out and made the following statement after the U. S. Air Force declared the Michigan UFO Wave of 1966 could be explained as "swamp gas."
"In the firm belief that the American public deserves a better explanation than that thus far given by the Air Force, I strongly recommend that there be a committee investigation of the UFO phenomena. I think we owe it to the people to establish credibility regarding UFOs, and to produce the greatest possible enlightenment of the subject." [source]
Speaking of "swamp gas" I think I've encountered some of that myself this holiday. Senile Aunt Sue's curiously blue sugar cookies, beer by the bucket-full, and all that ham and scallop potatoes. Was enough "swamp gas" to propel a person up into the night sky and around the neighborhood in a glowing ball of green luminescent fog.
In case you need a visual...it would look a little bit like this. ------->
What's up with always trying to link sex with martial arts? Although neither one represents an actual, traditional self-defense technique, in a fair fight, my money would be on someone who'd been to the "The Rope Dojo" over anyone who'd studied "Sexual Kung Fu."
The Rope Dojo is a weekend-long rope bondage workshop that even includes lunch. The very tasteful-looking website asks:
Are you SERIOUS about improving your rope bondage skills?
Do you want to erotically please and sexually pleasure your partner using rope?
Do you want to learn how to be a better bottom or receiver of rope pleasures?
Ready to get to the next level of education?
Do you want to do safer rope suspension bondage the right way?
If you answered "yes" to all of these questions, and you live in (or can travel to) San Francisco, Toronto, New York, or Dallas, and have three hundred smackers burning a hole in your pocket (did I mention that it includes lunch?) please take this sixteen hour workshop right away and then tell me all about it. Oh, and take pictures too, will ya?
Meanwhile, I'll just continue to use my lazy, crude, no-training-necessary leather handcuffs on the bedpost technique until I can afford to get a black belt in bondage.
I think we all need to take a mental health break here, and find out exactly how many brain cells we've killed by watching mind-numbing holiday movies and interacting with our relatives this Christmas.
I have just the thing. A super addictive computer game that tests timing and the usage of intelligence-- especially when trying to figure out what the hell you're supposed to do to win, since the instructions are in French. The only thing I could understand was the word "Bravo" that kept appearing on the end game score page.
Considering the score I got (3 seconds max) I'm assuming the "Bravo" was some sort of French sarcasm...
You definitely need a fully functioning 'non-wonky' mouse to play this one. Enjoy!
Bamjon disappeared in March from the forests in nearby Ratanpuri village where he had reportedly been meditating without food or water for almost 10 months. "I have been wandering in the forests since then," [Raju ] Shrestha [a local journalist] quoted Bamjon as telling him. "I am engaged in devotion which will continue for six years," the boy told Shrestha.
But not everyone thinks he is the Buddha.
"I don't think he is a Buddha. But he has some sort of extra strength to meditate. He eats herbs," Shrestha said.
Ethnic joke writers, take note. Usually, stories about size and ethnicity don't have research to back them up, but this one's on the level. In a story carried by Reuters and other news services, the Indian Council of Medical Research found 60 percent of men in Mumbai had penises at least 2.4 centimeters (one inch) shorter than international condom sizes. Compounding the risk of HIV transmission, it was reported that "Many men in India, which has the world's highest HIV positive caseload, were too shy to ask for condoms." The Times of India headline, "Indian Men Don't Measure Up" might make them shyer still.
Ill-fitting condoms contribute to a higher failure rate, so the problem is a serious one. Proposed solutions are more condom vending machines and greater availability of a range of sizes.
I'd hoped that since Viagra has now been on the market for nearly a decade, it might have had some positive impact on the damaging trade in endangered animal parts, most notoriously tiger penis and powdered rhinoceros horn. Unfortunately, it hasn't made a dent. There are two reasons: animal parts in fact aren't prized exclusively for sexual medicine, but for other uses as well, and because old traditions die hard.
According to an article in Salon, the oft-repeated rhino horn thing is something of a myth. Yes, rhino and tiger parts are used in Chinese medicine; no, it's not always for sexual dysfunction, but for a host of ailments including fever and arthritis.
And before you go getting all smug, remember that Americans aren't blameless either. We may not use seahorses as medicine for impotence, as some cultures do, but we capture plenty of them as aquarium pets. And habitat reduction is a problem the world over. I wish it were as simple as a little blue pill, but it's going to take a lot more than that to save the world's endangered species.
Soybeans, soybeans
The sexiest fruit
The more you eat
The more you're lubed.
The more you're lubed,
The better it feels
So let's have soybeans for every meal.
No, really, it's true! I learned it from a hot sexy article in Forbes!
Abdullah Gymnastiar, Indonesia's Harley Davidson riding Islamic icon has sparked hot debates recently when he decided to give himself an early 'Christmas' present-- A younger second wife.
Men and women had different "software" he said; women were wired for monogamy, he suggested, while men had more stereophonic inclinations. [Source]
What kind of "software" is he talking about exactly? Last I checked, there were very minute differences in male and female brains. Unless they are installing some sort of pro-polygamy programs into Islamic men's brains while they are sleeping. A 'sexual chauvenism microchip' of some sort.
If software is the problem...In that case, I suggest first wives of Islamic men to manually override this secret "software" in their husband's brains by shutting down the system (sleeping pills in their soup) and reinstalling the 'non-chauvenistic' operating system in them. Tie him to the bed, sit on top of him in very sexy lingerie, take a sharp knife and dangle it over his pecker and say "Sweetie, if you ever mention taking a younger bride ever again, I'll cut it off and put it in a mason jar on a shelf in the kitchen where you'll never be able to use it to make me miserable ever again."
A few days ago, I had an essay published in the Ventura County Reporter about my experience with Hannukah. The essay's mostly about how Hannukah as we know it is an American invention, and so the fact that I only kind of celebrate it (and always celebrate Christmas) makes me a part of the distinct culture of American Jews.
At the same time, I came across an ad on Craigslist for a couple seeking a Jewish egg donor. They're willing to pay $10,000, which would almost wipe out my debt. In discussing whether six months of taking hormones, undergoing a painful operation, and knowing - for the rest of my life - that my spawn is walking around somewhere, would be worth $10,000, one friend pointed out: "But you're not really Jewish." Which is true. With only my Dad's side of the family Jewish, I'm only half -- and the wrong half, at that.
Both of these led me to the interesting question, How Jewish am I?
I look Jewish. I identify with Jewish culture. Israel might not give me citizenship, but the Nazis certainly would have killed me. (So I may not be a real Jew but I'm a Gas Chamber Jew?) I can read a bit of Hebrew, but I never had a Bat Mitzvah. So, does my Jewishness count?
There's no real answer, of course. It's all up to personal interpretation.
But discussing it with another Jewish friend did bring up a delightful little story about passing a bakery as a child with his mom and his sister. The trio peered in the window and his sister, who was seven years younger than my friend, spied her first doughnut.
"Look, Mom!" she exclaimed, delighted. "Chocolate bagels!"
This morning I was having a discussion about the astrological concept of Saturn's return with my sister, her bandmate Domo, and my parents. No one but my mom seemed to even consider the concept of astrology governing the chaos and confusion that so many of my 28- and 29-year-old friends are currently plagued with. But they were interested in what I thought the concept was.
So I explained that every 28 years or so, Saturn returns to the place it was in when you were born. And when it does that, you enter a period of deep introspection, re-evaluation and, usually, major life changes. It's painful, I said, but it's ultimately part of your path of becoming your true self. And if you know what's happening and can accept it, it can be profoundly exciting.
They contemplated this. And then Domo had a thought.
"But do you have to wait for Saturn?" he asked. "What if another planet gives you a better deal?"
Ah, "what if" indeed. Perhaps Neptune offers to help you figure out your life at 22 instead of 28? Maybe Mars will take away some of the confusion if you'll agree to accept a little less enlightenment? A tempting thought. But as much as this period of my life is difficult, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I have absolute faith that I'm going to come out the other side happier, more settled and more successful than I've ever been. And I wouldn't give up that longterm gratification for the short-term satisfaction of actually knowing what the hell I'm doing right now.
So come on back, Saturn. Do your magic. Just be gentle, okay?
(And by the way, if you do believe in Saturn's return and need a little help, apparently there's an online support group for dealing with just this phase of life. Of course, it also looks like a way for the site owner's to earn some extra cash, but still...)
Like most girls, I don't find the idea of anonymous sex in a men's restroom that alluring. But what I do find alluring, and fascinating, is the perpetual horniness of men. It's a force so powerful that they would be able to overlook the whiff of urinal cakes and potential risk of discovery long enough to get it up and off.
In the heterosexual realm, the opposing forces tend to meet in the middle; in the gay world, the yang or yin are often multiplied to an absurd degree. That's how we get cuddly U-Haul lesbians on the female side and, for the boys, websites like Squirt.com.
I did a cruising search for the pickup spots in my neighborhood, and one of the listings that came up was -- no lie -- the mens' room at Wal-Mart.
Maybe -- just maybe -- I could be persuaded to rally my blood for public bathroom sex, after a lot of drinking and a lot of teasing. But if the bathroom was in a Wal-Mart? The fluorescent lights, the Chinese imports, the disaffected labor, the low low prices. Oh, how it all comes together to wilt my pearl, like a shriveled pea, alone and forgotten at the bottom of the crisper.
I often pride myself on having a horniness rating I'd hold up to that of any guy, but, oh my brothers, this time you've bested me, and I salute you.
Apparently, being accused of kidnapping an African baby can have a strain on your marriage. Or so say Madonna and Guy Ritchie, who are now going to marriage counseling to salvage what’s left of their relationship.
I don’t know much about their counselor, Tricia Barnes , the “famous” sexual and relationship psychotherapist (though I think it’s interesting one of her specialties is erectile dysfunction. Something you want to tell us about, Mr. Ritchie?). Nor do I know that much about the biopsychosocial approach she specializes in, though I’m sure that any integrated approach to something as far-reaching as relationship problems is better than something simplistic.
I do, however, know about relationship counseling. During a rough patch in a previous relationship, my then-boyfriend and I started working with a therapist with an Imago specialty. The idea of Imago is that we’re all walking around with childhood wounds we’re trying to heal through relationships – and that we choose partners who are uniquely capable of triggering our childhood traumas so that we can work them out. This process was hugely beneficial to my ex and I, not only in giving us new ways to communicate with each other, but new ways of understanding ourselves.
And though we eventually broke up, it also taught me that we're I'm destined to continue to find partners with whom I’ll have the same kind of conflicts.
Which means Madonna, you might as well figure out this thing together. Otherwise, you’re just going to find another British, less-famous-than-you husband to kidnap an African kid with. And do you really want to go through that again?
Uri Geller's wildly successful Israeli show The Heir is facing some controversy over endangering youth, when a recent viewer repeated a stunt at home.
The show courted controversy after a Haifa youngster tried to copy one participant who wowed audiences by stopping his own heart for 30 seconds. The child was taken to hospital, although he soon recovered.
There is some talk of censoring the show, in addition to the disclaimer and warning that already precedes each episode to dissuade viewers from attempting unsupervised stunts.
I'm not worried about the 'endangered' children at all. I'm worried that nobody has asked the important question here-- how did that kid manage to learn how to stop his own heart after watching someone do it on tv??? Did he stick his finger in a light socket? Sell his soul to the devil? Biofeedback?
I'm confused...they have to censor the show because the tricks actually work? Thats ironic.
Anyone who knows the answer, feel free to chime in on this one. Otherwise I'm going to assume that maybe all Israeli children have super human powers, and I was the last one on earth to figure it out.
It's the end of the year and while many people are busy doing their holiday shopping, others are making the lists for the coming Apocalypse. No, I'm not talking about Mel Gibson's new movie. I'm talking about the end of the world as we know it.
Every year someone comes up with various predictions about how the upcoming year is the beginning of Armageddon! (sound the crashing cymbals). I don't know about you, but I'm still here, and the world doesn't seem to be that bad. In fact, it's much better today than it has been in the past.
Enter the Religious Tolerance website, where they track the failed end of the world predictions for the past umpteen years. If you're interested in the failed predictions for 2006 then jump here. There's still a slim chance for one to happen and it's from non other than Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda. I wrote a post about him earlier this year that still gets regular comments. Apparently Jesus Christ's second coming is happening in Puerto Rico a week from this Sunday - on December 17th. Here's the translated scoop:
"This December 17th the world will be a witness of the second coming of Christ. The king of kings will touch upon the boricuan [Hispanic] land. Puerto Rico will be the stage where hundred’s of people will witness 'live' while millions will watch through satellite TV the event that will put a mark upon history." [Source]
It's true. In a bold display of spiritual maturity, Beyonce Knowles has agreed to appear on the cover of a gay magazine to promote her new movie Dreamgirls, despite the conflict between Christianity and the gay community.
The singer-cum-actress will front the American publication Instinct, and reveals she made the shock move thanks to her gay uncle.
"I was raised by my uncle who passed away with AIDS a couple of years ago. He was my mother's best friend," she said, in the magazine's accompanying article.
"He brought me to school every day. He helped me buy my prom dress. He made my clothes with my mother. He was like my nanny. He was my favourite person in the whole world.
"I never mixed Christianity with how I felt (about him). I am about faith and spirituality more so than religion. Doing right by others and not judging."
Beyonce didn't exactly have a lot to lose on this one, seeing as how she hasn't been popular with the Christian fans: Gospelflava, UnitedbyOne. Apparently, Christians believe that God has a problem with the way Beyonce shakes her booty...
Personally, I applaud her effort to blend Christian beliefs with her tolerance for other lifestyles. I also applaud her booty shaking, because who really believes God doesn't like a little half naked shimmy every once in a while? He's a man, isn't he?
This is a fascinating video showcasing Wally Wallington's technique for moving blocks the size of bulldozers. He hypothesizes that this technique was used to build Stonehenge and other major monuments. His only tools are stones and blocks of wood.
For many years’ people have tried to solve the mystery of the Egyptian pyramids, some even claiming extra terrestrial intervention. I have always enjoyed the challenge of a mystery and I know that ET did not have anything to do with ancient construction. Similar works were done in different places on earth and at different times in history and there has to be a more accurate explanation. I believe skilled individuals performed the work. I have found that this work could easily be done using only primitive tools and physics.
Quite possible! There are more videos and information on Wally's website.
Go shop for something new — something cool, make sure that you love it. Then have lots of food, for dinner preferably, as the times of breakfast and lunch are to be avoided. Consider also including a new, hot taste, and one of your favorite drinks. Then go to an interesting place, it could be a movie, a concert, a party, or any other social place. Having fun, and optionally getting drunk, is also part of the recipe. Note that you should avoid any unnecessary actions, as they can occasionally trigger feelings of unhappiness. Ideally the recipe should be served on a Saturday, for maximum happiness effect. If all this happens on your birthday, even better.
It's an intriguing recipe but it's missing a major piece - your smile.
A Chinese scientist used sound to levitate small animals!
The levitated ant tried crawling in the air and struggled to escape by rapidly flexing its legs, although it generally failed because its feet find little purchase in the air. The ladybug tried flying away but also failed when the field was too strong to break away from.
According to new archaeological finding, the first human ritual included a snake, a shaman and some red arrowheads.
The discovery was made in a remote region of Botswana called Tsodilo Hills, the only uplifted area for miles around. It is known to modern Sanpeople as the "Mountains of the Gods" and the "Rock that Whispers." Their legend has it that mankind descended from the python, and the ancient, arid streambeds around the hills are said to have been created by the python as it circled the hills in its ceaseless search for water.
The artifacts are said to be 70,000 years old which shows the ability for human abstraction much earlier than previously thought. It's a fascinating article about a fascinating ritual. Read more about the story here.
Just as there’s something inherently urban and sophisticated about a cup of coffee, there’s something inherently soothing and spiritual about a cup of tea. And that’s just the regular kind. Take it to the next level – organic beans and frothed milk for the joe, exotic leaves and complicated steeping processes for the tea – and you only increase the beverage’s natural qualities.
With Autumn winds in full force and my life in upheaval, this seemed like the perfect time to try the blooming teas from Adagio, described on their website this way:
Delight their eyes and taste buds with our awe-inspiring 'blooming teas' … Each bloom unfurl when placed in water, revealing a beautiful flower hidden within…The practice of hand-sewing leaves into 'blooming teas' is an age-old Chinese art form that dates back centuries. Invite your loved ones to experience our modern incarnation of this age-old ritual.
So I opened one of the square, pastel-colored boxes, ripped the top off the small metallic baggies each blossom comes in, and dropped a “red bloom” black tea blossom – which looked a bit like a dried fig or a tulip bulb – into boiling water. With images of sea monkeys and expanding sponges dancing through my mind, I couldn’t wait to see what the blossoms would become in the water.
My first attempt was a bust, thanks to my ill-fated decision to use a regular, opaque mug. As the tea cluster unfurled and darkened the water, it looked less than impressive. “Someone put trash in your cup!” my mom said. I disagreed. It didn’t look like trash – it looked like a tarantula had climbed into my tea and then died there.
But I wasn’t ready to give up on blooming teas yet. The liquid I sipped from around the tarantula’s legs was smooth and flavorful; and I could imagine that the blooming might be more impressive in a clear container.
So I ran a bath and steeped a “jasmine bloom” green tea blossom in a shallow glass dish. (The site sells special, clear tea cups, but I didn’t have any.) While soaking in bubbly water and holding the dish in my hands, I watched the brown twig cluster gradually open, presenting a delicate pink-tinted flower at its center. It still had a slightly disturbing anemone/arachnid aesthetic, but much less so than the much-darker black tea in the opaque mug. I could almost take myself to a Zen-like place of peace and clarity … almost. But I was much too distracted by thinking of all the various non-tea things the blooming tea resembled to let it do its magic.
Still, given the right amount of reverence and ceremony, and of the course, the right teaware, these teas could be a gorgeous surprise for a tea connoisseur. Perhaps watching them unfurl in a French press and then pouring the liquid off the top would be the right way to go? Or perhaps it would just look like a mini aquarium full of furry sea creatures.
I’m tempted enough by the teas’ taste and the potential beauty to keep giving the blooming teas a chance … but if you’re thinking of introducing these to a friend, make sure you don’t watch Arachnophobia first.
I am so disappointed! When I saw the review for this new 'psychic USB Drive' from the Japanese company Princeton I naively imagined that the USB drive itself had some special psychic powers. Like it would spontaneously eject itself from the computer when it sensed you were finished working. Or maybe it could fetch your astrology reading for the week from the internet while it was plugged in. Or communicate secretly with your spirit guides on your behalf.
I got all excited-- but it turns out that the drive just comes with some software created by famous psychic Masako Mitaki that predicts your future.
Unless the damn thing levitates and can summon Satan upon command-- don't buy this for me for Christmas. Ok?
Some of the tantric pioneers felt that a celibate lifestyle did not, in fact, represent a mastery of one's sexuality, but rather a repression of and even a flight in fear from one's sexuality.
There is a tantric teaching to the effect that without the practice of sexual union and without integrating one's energies at that level, it is impossible to attain enlightenment in the present lifetime.
There are different paths for different types of people and tantra was intended for passionate people, those who expressed an unusual degree of fire and intensity in their character.
So there is hope for those of us who don't consider the monastic path and celibacy a workable option. That's good to know. The lone monk on the mountaintop isn't the only guy who can awaken.
But now this leads me to the question: like the celibate monks taking flight in fear of their sexuality, can tantra just be a way to take flight in fear of solitude?
Remember Robin Hood? He stole from the rich to give to the poor. When I was a kid I thought that was the coolest thing. Of course the rich was this stingy old King that abused his people and the poor were these nice people trying to eek out a living and Robin Hood was hot.
Well, Robin Hood isn't just a fairy tale anymore. A new company has taken the Robin Hood concept and put it in action. Introducing The Robin Hood Fund.
The Robinhood Fund is committed to fulfill as many everyday wishes for as many everyday people as possible. Anyone can submit a wish, and through the wisdom of crowds, wishes are fulfilled.
The Robinhood Fund is different because we allow the crowd – not elite individuals such as a board – to decide which wishes should be granted.
So how does it work? Basically you register with the site and submit your wish. Your wish shows up on the site and the community votes on it, deciding if it a worthly wish. If you get the most votes then your wish is granted!
Wishes fall into one of five categories:
Health and wellness - Need $ for exercise equipment, a spa to reduce mental stress, $ for a health membership? All are valid reasons that fall under this category.
Help me help others - This category is for the true "giver" in you. Tell your story for a wish for someone else to benefit. A family in need, an organization you are passionate about, someone you know needs help but can't or won't ask for themselves...
Me, myself and I - Tell us why you deserve your wish. If liked by the "merry men" of sherwood forest, your tale may well turn a wish into "granted".
Twist of fate - Sometimes there are events that hit us sideways, out of nowhere, a blue streak of bad luck. A tale of this type might turn luck toward you after all and make "lemonaide" out of lemons.
Weekly Wish - Each week a wish is sponsored. 20% of the Robinhood Fund for that week goes toward the weekly topic. This week it is tech gadgets. Need a gadget to make life easier, tell us a tale about what you need and why. Maybe Robinhood and his merry men community will agree and give you your fee.
Past granted wishes include quality time with my soulmate, peace for my Dachshund, an Ab lounge, an electric guitar, health insurance and helping someone get an apartment. I think this is a great concept, but it's unclear where the money comes to grant these wishes and unclear if you can donate if you happen to be in a position of fiscal generosity. Regardless, you can make a wish right now!
Speaking of "swamp gas" I think I've encountered some of that myself this holiday. Senile Aunt Sue's curiously blue sugar cookies, beer by the bucket-full, and all that ham and scallop potatoes. Was enough "swamp gas" to propel a person up into the night sky and around the neighborhood in a glowing ball of green luminescent fog.
Here's a simple recipe for Happiness pointed out by 
Remember Robin Hood? He stole from the rich to give to the poor. When I was a kid I thought that was the coolest thing. Of course the rich was this stingy old King that abused his people and the poor were these nice people trying to eek out a living and Robin Hood was hot.