Interesting Articles Or Coincidences

[Ron19]

Not Thailand related, moved to the Pub.

That's fine.Sorry I just didn't know where to put it.

I'll bet you say that to all the girls...

Only the plump ones.

[kevjohn]

The Ten Golden Rules on Living the Good Life

1. Examine life, engage life with vengeance; always search for new pleasures and new destines to reach with your mind.

2. Worry only about the things that are in your control, the things that can be influenced and changed by your actions, not about the things that are beyond your capacity to direct or alter.

3. Treasure Friendship, the reciprocal attachment that fills the need for affiliation. Friendship cannot be acquired in the market place, but must be nurtured and treasured in relations imbued with trust and amity.

4. Experience True Pleasure. Avoid shallow and transient pleasures. Keep your life simple. Seek calming pleasures that contribute to peace of mind. True pleasure is disciplined and restrained.

5. Master Yourself. Resist any external force that might delimit thought and action; stop deceiving yourself, believing only what is personally useful and convenient; complete liberty necessitates a struggle within, a battle to subdue negative psychological and spiritual forces that preclude a healthy existence; self-mastery requires ruthless cador.

6. Avoid Excess. Live life in harmony and balance. Avoid excesses. Even good things, pursued or attained without moderation, can become a source of misery and suffering.

7. Be a Responsible Human Being. Approach yourself with honesty and thoroughness; maintain a kind of spiritual hygiene; stop the blame-shifting for your errors and shortcomings.

8. Don’t Be a Prosperous Fool. Prosperity by itself, is not a cure-all against an ill-led life, and may be a source of dangerous foolishness. Money is a necessary but not a sufficient condition for the good life, for happiness and wisdom.

9. Don’t Do Evil to Others. Evildoing is a dangerous habit, a kind of reflex too quickly resorted to and too easily justified that has a lasting and damaging effect upon the quest for the good life. Harming others claims two victims—the receiver of the harm, and the victimizer, the one who does harm.

10. Kindness towards others tends to be rewarded. Kindness to others is a good habit that supports and reinforces the quest for the good life. Helping others bestows a sense of satisfaction that has two beneficiaries—the beneficiary, the receiver of the help, and the benefactor, the one who provides the help.

[kevjohn]

Some more Interesting facts.

When the Titanic departed from port it was documented to have carried approximately 1000 loaves of bread, 86,000 pounds of meat, 40,000 eggs and 36,000 apples to feed the passengers and crew on the 7 day voyage. Now those are some interesting facts!

Dogs can have a fatal reaction to eating chocolate. Chocolate contains a bitter alkaloid called Theo bromine also known as Xantheose and that’s the active ingredient that’s bad for the dog. If you’ve read all the interesting facts to this point you’re awesome!

For a butterfly to fly it must have a body temperature of no less than 86 degrees Fahrenheit or 30 degrees Celsius.

The largest milk producing country by volume in the whole world is India.

It is a fact that the first game of chess has been traced back to have originated in northern India. Like other 1,000+ year old games, it would have been played differently than today’s rules. It’s thought that today’s rules have been around since sometime in the 1400′s A.D.

In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service has an employee’s handbook for the collections division unit. Here’s the interesting part, in it are instructions which guide employees on how to collect taxes after a nuclear war. Kind of scary!

If you are severely scared of going to the dentist or having dental work, you may actually have a phobia called odontophobia.

Almonds are members of the rose flower family or rosacea family. The peach is also a member of the rose family.

The tallest girl in the world ever recorded was 8 feet 2 inches tall and died at the young age of 17.

The average human head, with a full head of hair, contains between 85,000 to 150,000hairs.

Jupiter is the largest planet in the earth’s solar system. I should’ve known that one.

Squirrels forget where about 50% of the nuts, they’ve hidden, are. Useless. Hahaha.

Did you know the first bullet proof vest and windshield wiper blades were both invented by women? Cool!

Cold weather makes fingernails grow faster. Weird!

Only humans cry because of feelings. Awesome!

Mohammad is the most common birth name in the world.

It takes about 7 minutes for the average person to fall asleep.

[taiwangirl]

I always thought the following was interesting:

If you combine the weight of all ants in the world, it will be more than the combined weight of all humans!!

[warfie]

I heard this many years ago and was doubtful, I have never been able to ascertain the validity of the statement but as the years pass and technology continues to progress at an exponential rate, it becomes more likely...

"The average video card today has greater processing power than *ALL* the computers in the world made before 1990 combined."

[kevjohn]

Meteora Facts

Meteora, an area that attracts thousands of tourists from all over the world every year is situated in Greece.

Meteora is famous for its monasteries that are built on eroded rocks. The name itself means "suspended in the air".

The monks built these monasteries on the top of the rocks. Earlier there were many monasteries but now only six are left.

Meteora was inhabited by hermit monks first. The climate here varies with sweating summers to chilly winters.

The area experiences rain all through the year. The rocks on which these monasteries stand are believed to be

almost sixty million years old and their weathering and evolving makes the place perfect for hiking.

Tourists here enjoy visiting monasteries, hiking and exploring caves. The best way to reach the place is by taking a bus from Athens.

There are good hotels to stay in a village of Kastraki.

The nearby places worth visiting are Mount Olympus, Athens, Santorini and many more.

[kevjohn]

TEMPORARY MARRIAGE IN IRAN

Anonymous in the West, temporary marriage is, basically, a contractual deal between a man

and a woman who decide to be married for an agreed period of time varying from one hour to 99 years.

This custom is practiced among the Shiites of Iran and Iraq, although not a part of Quranic teachings.

In Iran, a man - bachelor or married, and a woman - virgin, divorced, or widowed, can, at any time enter

into a temporary marriage contract, commonly known as sigheh or nekah-e-monghate'e.

In a temporary marriage contract, no registration or witness is required.

As per the proponents of this arrangement, it is considered as a means of curbing free sex and control prostitution.

Also, the arrangement allows a man to have 'sigheh' wives to an extent that is affordable by him.

But a woman, on the other hand, is allowed to enter only one such relationship at a point of time.

Moreover, the woman is also paid the compensation amount before entering the contract.

However, no couple can enter another contract before completing a waiting period of

three months or an elapse of two menstrual cycles. This waiting period is referred as 'edda'.

The trend of temporary marriage is, conversely, not liked by the educated middle class families.

Also, some women are predisposed to think it as legal prostitution and, therefore, oppose the trend.

This trend is, therefore, practiced more commonly by women who are either divorced or widowed.

Additionally, the trend is also popular among theological seminaries and the clergy.

[kevjohn]

FACTS ABOUT PANCAKES

Pancakes are eaten all around the world throughout the year but in some

countries special days are reserved such as Shrove Tuesdays, Easter and lot more.

Pancakes are thin cakes made of batter of milk, flour, sugar, butter and eggs baked

in a griddle or fried in a pan. At times buttermilk is used in place of milk to make the cake more fluffy and soft.

Different places carry different tales with the pancakes.

In Newfoundland people add items to the batter and use them to tell future of the family members before cooking the pancake.

In France people make a wish, touching the handle of the pan keeping a coin in one hand while tossing the cake.

One man was so fond of the pancakes that he ran a race, tossing the pancakes.

Pancakes are served with variety of syrups at different place. Some countries serve it with maple syrup

made of sap collected from maple trees; some serve it with jellies and still others with jams.

Ready mix for the pancakes is also available in the market.

Some facts recorded about the pancakes tell that Buchinghamshire was the first to celebrate the Pancake Day in 1445.

The least amount of time taken for tossing the pancakes for the maximum time was in U. K.

when the pancakes were tossed 349 times in 2 seconds.

It was in 1994 that the biggest pancake was cooked which weighed three tons and was of 15 meters width in Rochdale.

The world’s Largest Pancake Breakfast was held in 1986 to celebrate 350th anniversary of Massachusetts

and since then this is practiced every year and many people volunteer their help for the same.

[kevjohn]

FACTS ABOUT ASIA

The continent largest in landmass and that of population is Asia.

Asia has the world's 60% of population that accounts to almost 4 billion people.

The statistics prove that two countries hold half of Asia's population; one being India and other is China.

Though China is ahead of India, it is believed that in another 20 years India will have the highest population.

The boundaries of Asia are made of Suez Canal and Ural Mountains in the west,

the Caucasus Mountain and the Caspian and the Black Seas to the south.

The south also extends to the Indian Ocean, to the north the Arctic Ocean and to the far- east the Pacific Ocean.

Further Asia is divided into six sub- continents; Central Asia, East Asia, North Asia, India Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia.

The western most point of Asia is Cape Baba in the North-Western Turkey. Its eastern most point is Cape Chelyuskin in Siberia.

The width of the continent is 5300 miles. Asia enfolds the world's top three leading economies- India, China and Japan.

China has shown massive growth in economy in last ten years and it has become the second largest economy in the world

after the United States of America.

The three main financial centers of Asia are Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The main religions practiced in the continent are- Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism and Islam.

The highest and the lowest point on the Earth both lie in Asia, the highest point is the Mount Everest and the lowest is the Dead Sea.

The top ten highest mountains are also located in Asia.

A home of wide variety of religion, caste, culture and creed, Asia is a colorful continent.

[kevjohn]

BEAUTIFUL PSYCHEDELIC RIVER

Rivers are commonly known to be good sources of water for irrigation.

Sometimes the rivers also play as very good sites to view. They may be calm or very rough.

One of the rivers that play as a good tourist attraction would be the Cano Cristales.

This river is found in Colombia's sierra de la Macarena. The river is known to be the most psychedelic river in the world.

It is as moody as it is beautiful.

In the dry season the river dries up and all one finds is a cracked up river bed.

In the wet season the river will be flooded and accessing it is practically impossible.

However, when you go there at the beginning of the wet season you will be able to witness a magnificent spectacle.

There will be rainbow colors on the river bed. This is the reason that the river has been termed as the most beautiful river in the world.

Due to this features, the river attracts many tourists who come to witness for themselves this amazing site.

It's the only river in the world that will give you this amazing spectacle.

The river flows through many wonderful sites too.

Thus if you are a tourist coming to see the river you will also have the privilege of getting to see other sites to.

The river flows from the plateau of Sierrania de la Macarena. This happens to be a park and a mountain range

that is a sanctuary for many plant and animal species.

The rugged terrain is coupled up with many archaeological sites and caves that have not been explored.

The archaeological sites have pictograms and petroglyphs that date as far back as the pre-Colombian times.

The river is the parks central feature.

During the wet season the river displays a spectacular array of colors. The colors range from deep red, yellow and pink to blue black and green.

These colors can be attributed to the mosses and algae that grow on the river bed during the dry season.

During the wet season they get enough moisture to be able to unfold the spectacular array of colors.

[kevjohn]

THE ETERNAL FLAME IN IRAQ

The Eternal flame in Iraq is the name lent to flames coming out of the natural gas vents since thousands of years at 'Baba Gurgur' oilfield in Kirkuk,

which lies two hundred and fifty kilometers to the north-east of Baghdad.

This was discovered for the first time in Northern Iraq in 1927. The name in Kurdish means 'father of flames'.

Before the discovery of the 'Ghawar fields' in Saudi Arabia in 1950's, the 'Baba Gurgur' oilfield was the largest oilfield.

Numerous poems have been since then written on these ever burning flames.

The Eternal Fire was first described by Herodotus and ancient Greek author Plutarch.

[loong]

The least amount of time taken for tossing the pancakes for the maximum time was in U. K.

when the pancakes were tossed 349 times in 2 seconds.

???

"The least amount of time taken for the maximum time"

Can't make sense of this.

"349 times in 2 seconds"

Now that's simply not possible

[kevjohn]

The least amount of time taken for tossing the pancakes for the maximum time was in U. K.

when the pancakes were tossed 349 times in 2 seconds.

???

"The least amount of time taken for the maximum time"

Can't make sense of this.

"349 times in 2 seconds"

Now that's simply not possible

Sorry loong, did not realize just what was stated as it was after midnight when I posted.

That is the wording used on the site were I found the topic.

http://www.interestingfacts.org/fact/facts-about-pancakes

[kevjohn]

SCOPOLAMINE FACTS

Devil's Breath is the drug that goes by the name of Scopolamine.

It is an extremely dangerous drug and in fact, one of the most dangerous drugs in this world.

The way it works is by erasing person's memory completely and they can't remember anything that happened after they consumed it.

On the streets of Colombia, if you were to ask for the drug Scopolamine by the name of Devil's Breath you will be able to procure it easily.

This drug gets its name because it takes only one breath to become possessed by it. It comes from a tree called Borrachero that is found in South America.

The drug has such a potent impact on one's memory that one does not know what is happening around them.

When people are under its influence they became mental slaves that listen to all orders.

This has resulted in heinous crime being caused in the form of rapes, murders, slavery and what not.

In fact, some of the stories that are linked with this drug are that people have actually donated their organs or

given access to a complete stranger to their bank accounts under its influence.

The Borrachero tree

[kevjohn]

WHY POO SOMETIMES FLOATS?

You might be left wondering why does poo sometimes float and on other times, you are able to effortlessly flush it away.

The main reason behind this is the gas content that it contains that makes it have a lower density when compared to water.

Anything with a lower density will be able to float on water and that is exactly what happens in this instance.

The reason that this only happens sometimes is that most of the time, any gas in the stomach or digestive tract, gets dispensed in the form of gas. However, if this does not happen then the only way that it can happen is by means of the gas escaping in the form of it being within the poo.

At the same time, there will be instances when your diet and what you have eaten will make a difference. There are certain sections of food that take longer to digest and therefore go on to create more gas. Also, there are some diseases that make poo more gaseous and float. The bottom line therefore is that more gas you have in your gut, the lighter is your poo going to be and more likely to float.

[kevjohn]

WHO MADE THE MARREE MAN?

60 km out of the town of Marree in South Australia, there is the figure of a man etched into the ground that is more than 4 km long.

This geoglyph, popularly known as the Marree Man, is not only Australia's but also the world's biggest geoglyph, and had been

created by scouring out the vegetation from the land and exposing the bar earth underneath.

The main reason for this being hyped so much is that no one knows who, or why made this astounding drawing on the earth.

Although there are only a few clues, a local version says that the eccentric Bardius Goldberg made this using a GPS and a bulldozer.

satellite image of the Marree Man

Marree Man: aerial view

[kevjohn]

Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835, and died on the day of its next appearance in 1910.

He himself predicted this in 1909, when he said:

"I came in with Halley's Comet in 1835. It is coming again next year, and I expect to go out with it."

[kevjohn]

In 1979, the German magazine - Das Besteran - ran a writing competition.

Readers sent in unusual stories, but they had to be based on true incidents.

The winner, Walter Kellner of Munich, had his story published .

He wrote about a time when he was flying a Cessna 421 between Sardinia and Sicily.

He encountered engine trouble at sea, landed in the water, spent some time in an emergency dinghy and was then rescued.

This story was spotted by an Austrian, also named Walter Kellner, who said that the German Kellner had plagiarized the story.

The Austrian Kellner said that he had flown a Cessna 421 over the same sea, experienced engine trouble and was forced to land in Sardinia.

It was essentially the same story, with a slightly different ending.

The magazine checked both stories, and both turned out to be true, even though they were nearly identical.

[kevjohn]

Morgan Robertson's 1898 novella Futility had many parallels with the RMS Titanic disaster.

The book concerned a fictional state-of-the-art ocean liner called Titan, which (like the Titanic)

eventually collides with an iceberg on a calm April night whilst en route to New York,

with many dying because of the lack of lifeboats.

Various other details in the book coincide with the Titanic disaster.

[kevjohn]

Death calls twice

• On July 28th 1900, the King of Italy Umberto I was having dinner in a restaurant in the city of Monza. It turned out later that the restaurant's owner looked identical to the king. The restaurant owner's name was Umberto, his wife's name was the same as the queen's and the restaurant was opened on the same date as the king's inauguration. The Restaurant-owner Umberto was shot dead the next day. So was King Umberto.
  

• Claude Volbonne killed Baron Rodemire de Tarazone of France in 1872. 21 years earlier, the Baron's father had been murdered by somebody else called Claude Volbonne.
  
• 
  
• On February 13, 1746, a Frenchman, Jean Marie Dubarry, was executed for the murder of his father. Precisely 100 years later, on February 13, 1846, another Frenchman, also named Jean Marie Dubarry, was executed - for the murder of his father.
  
• 
  
• On the 26th November, 1911, three men were hanged at Greenberry Hill in London after being convicted of the murder of Sir Edmund Berry. Their names were Green, Berry and Hill.
  

[Ron19]

Nissan Joins V8 Supercars

Ford and Holden fans, look out: Nissan has confirmed it will enter the V8 Supercar championship next year.

Announced in Melbourne this morning, the Japanese giant will take on our Falcons and Commodores with a full factory-backed effort, sponsoring V8 team Kelly Racing.

Led by brothers Todd and Rick, Kelly Racing will enter four Nissan V8 Supercars in the 2013 series, based on a yet-to-be-decided medium-sized passenger car. Which means no, not a GT-R (sorry to get you a bit excited there) - it will be something like an Infiniti sedan (pictured above) using a Nismo V8 from Japan, tuned to around 480kW to meet V8 Supercar rules.

Those same rules stipulate that it must look and sound like the current fleet of V8 Supercars, with wild wings, fat slicks and the distinctive Bathurst roar.

This is huge news for V8 Supercars, Australia's most popular domestic racing series. Faced with the impending disappearance of Falcon and Commodore in the coming years, V8 Supercar bosses invented the "Car of the Future", an initiative designed to lure more car manufacturers to the sport to insure its long-term future. And it's worked.

And Nissan mightn't be the only new manufacturer entering the series next year. Chrysler, too, is rumoured to be joining next year with V8 team Garry Rogers Motorsport.

There's a funny irony in all of this. In the early 1990s, Nissan's twin-turbocharged, all-wheel-drive monster, the R32 GT-R, dominated the Australian Touring Car Championship (the old name for V8 Supercars). The GT-R so fast that the V8 Falcons and Commodores couldn't possibly keep up. So they banned it.

And it was that very banning that led to the disappearance of all the other cars, leaving only V8-powered Falcons and Commodores in 1994, a formula that stood unchanged until today - and a formula whose days are now officially numbered.

Mercedes joins V8 Supercars!

Ford and Holden fans, heads up: the Germans are coming.

Mercedes-Benz has confirmed it will build a V8 Supercar and, along with Nissan, will gatecrash next year's championship.

V8 team Stone Brothers Racing will ditch Ford and build three E-Class V8 Supercars, each with special racing engines built by AMG in Germany - a special downsized version of the 6.2-litre V8 found in the C63 and SLS.

Mercedes' new drivers will be Lee Holdsworth, Shane Van Gisbergen and Tim Slade. The cars will make their race debut at Adelaide's Clipsal 500 in March.

But it won't be a factory-backed thing. Mercedes-Benz Australia doesn't want anything to do with the whole operation; the cars, and team, will be assembled and run without any official support.

Along with Nissan, Mercedes is now the second manufacturer to confirm it will join V8 Supercars next year, thanks to the series relaxing its rules on who can enter the sport. The series' new 2013 Car of the Future is an initiative designed to lure more makers to the sport.

It's worked. And there could even be more on the way. Watch this space

[warfie]

Re: Australian V8 Supercar Championship, I always said they were shooting themselves in the foot, and I for one, lost interest when the variety of cars on the track became zero.

[partington]

Death calls twice

On the 26th November, 1911, three men were hanged at Greenberry Hill in London after being convicted of the murder of Sir Edmund Berry. Their names were Green, Berry and Hill.

O dearie me: a little effort would show this is because the hill was named this AFTER the executions , as a sort of joke:

SOURCE http://en.wikipedia....d_Berry_Godfrey

"Prance later recanted his confession before the king and the council and was thrown back to prison. As a result he recanted his recantation and recanted two more times, ending up verifying his original story. The three men were sentenced to death 5 February 1679 and hanged at Primrose Hill. For a time this was known as "Greenberry Hill", because of the hangings of Green, Berry and Hill."

Here's some real facts:

• A single Snickers bar contains more calories than the average centurion in Ancient Rome ate in a year

• The turban was invented in 1902 by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, as a device to keep teapots warm at sub-zero temperatures.

• The common turnip when grated and dried can be used to prepare weapons grade plutonium at almost no cost

• Actor Michael Imperioli (of "Sopranos" fame) has the largest nose recorded on a human since measurements began in 1843. He has a citation in the Guinness Book of Records registering this fact

• It takes the average human four hours to take a shit

• There is more empty space in an atom than the average football stadium

[kevjohn]

Amazing!!! This happened on a beach in Brazil

How fortunate that someone caught this on video!!

This episode was filmed right from the start and shows the instant reaction by the people on the beach.

http://elcomercio.pe...player/1384898

[kevjohn]

Death calls twice

On the 26th November, 1911, three men were hanged at Greenberry Hill in London after being convicted of the murder of Sir Edmund Berry. Their names were Green, Berry and Hill.

O dearie me: a little effort would show this is because the hill was named this AFTER the executions , as a sort of joke:

SOURCE http://en.wikipedia....d_Berry_Godfrey

"Prance later recanted his confession before the king and the council and was thrown back to prison. As a result he recanted his recantation and recanted two more times, ending up verifying his original story. The three men were sentenced to death 5 February 1679 and hanged at Primrose Hill. For a time this was known as "Greenberry Hill", because of the hangings of Green, Berry and Hill."

Here's some real facts:

• A single Snickers bar contains more calories than the average centurion in Ancient Rome ate in a year

• The turban was invented in 1902 by Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, as a device to keep teapots warm at sub-zero temperatures.

• The common turnip when grated and dried can be used to prepare weapons grade plutonium at almost no cost

• Actor Michael Imperioli (of "Sopranos" fame) has the largest nose recorded on a human since measurements began in 1843. He has a citation in the Guinness Book of Records registering this fact

• It takes the average human four hours to take a shit

• There is more empty space in an atom than the average football stadium

Thanks for correcting that error re Green, Berry and Hill.

[kevjohn]

Peacocks in flight

I have never seen pictures of peacocks in flight, these are beautiful !!!

[kevjohn]

Read and think for a moment……..something I found interesting.

As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact

that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg.

No chains, no cages.

It was obvious that the elephants could, at any time, break away from their bonds

but for some reason, they did not.

I saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent

animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

“Well,” he said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size

rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them.

As they grow up; they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away.

They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from

their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

[kevjohn]

1928 Car Repair Mailer Sent on a Penny Postcard

May 31, 1927, the last Ford Model T rolled off the assembly line.

It was the first affordable automobile, due in part to the assembly line process developed by Henry Ford.

It had a 2.9-liter, 20-horsepower engine and could travel at speeds up to 45 miles per hour.

It had a 10-gallon fuel tank and could run on kerosene, petrol, or ethanol, but it couldn't drive uphill if the tank was low,

because there was no fuel pump; people got around this design flaw by driving up hills in reverse.

Ford believed that “the man who will use his skill and constructive imagination to see how much he can give for a dollar,

instead of how little he can give for a dollar, is bound to succeed.”

The Model T cost $850 in 1909, and as efficiency in production increased, the price dropped. By 1927, you could get a Model T for $290.

“I will build a car for the great multitude,” said Ford. “It will be large enough for the family,

but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials,

by the best men to be hired, after the simplest designs that modern engineering can devise.

But it will be low in price that no man making a good salary will be unable to own one — and enjoy

with his family the blessing of hours of pleasure in God’s great open spaces.”

[kevjohn]

101 Years Old and Driving an 81 Tear Old Car

Notice at the very end when she steps on a little red towel to get into the car

so she won’t dirty the running board – and then picks it up and puts it in the car

so she can use it when she gets out! Precious lady!!!!

An amazing lady, 101 years old driving an 81 year old car

and changes the oil and spark plugs herself!

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[kevjohn]

Some Really Good Looking Older Babes’ ( cars)

Enjoy

http://www.slideshar...d_code/10207016