Condoms designed to meet international size specifications are too big for many Indian men as their penises fall short of what manufacturers had anticipated, an Indian study has found.
The Indian Council of Medical Research, a leading state-run center, said its initial findings from a two-year study showed 60 percent of men in the financial capital Mumbai had penises about 1 inch shorter than those condoms catered for.
For a further 30 percent, the difference was at least 2 inches. A poor fit meant the prophylactics often didn’t do the job they were bought for, and led to some tearing or slipping off during use.
One of the funniest things that ever happened to me as a pharmacist was the time this guy came in and complained to me about how “Them Magnum condoms, they too small…how come they don’t make a Double Magnum, you know what I’m sayin’?” He then proceeded to rant about it for another 5 minutes, all of us behind the counter trying our damnedest not to crack up.
Jim Buckmaster, the chief executive of Craigslist, caused lots of head-scratching Thursday as he tried to explain to a bunch of Wall Street types why his company is not interested in “monetizing” his ridiculously popular Web operation. Appearing at the UBS global media conference in New York, Mr. Buckmaster took questions from the bemused audience, which apparently could not get its collective mind around the notion that Craigslist exists to help Web users find jobs, cars, apartments and dates — and not so much to make money.
Wendy Davis of MediaPost describes the presentation as a “a culture clash of near-epic proportions.” She recounts how UBS analyst Ben Schachter wanted to know how Craigslist plans to maximize revenue. It doesn’t, Mr. Buckmaster replied (perhaps wondering how Mr. Schachter could possibly not already know this). “That definitely is not part of the equation,” he said, according to MediaPost. “It’s not part of the goal.”
“I think a lot of people are catching their breath right now,” Mr. Schachter said in response.
The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, today urged an emergency session of the UN human rights council to take immediate action over atrocities in Darfur, Sudan.
Mr Annan called on the council, a new human rights watchdog set up last June, to send an independent team to investigate reports of an increase in violence, including mass rapes of girls as young as eight.
(snip)
The UN’s top humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, warned last week that the Darfur conflict had spread into neighbouring Chad and the Central African Republic and was in “freefall”, with the prospect of 6 million people lacking food or protection.
As Norway entered yet another December week of unseasonably warm temperatures, experts were warning that all the ice in the Arctic may melt by 2040.
The Arctic ice is melting faster than even the most pessimistic forecasts of just a few years ago. Norwegian climate experts have worried about the Arctic for years, while also noting how glaciers on the Norwegian mainland are shrinking by the year.
Now researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in the US claim that if greenhouse emissions continue at the current rate, the ice in the Arctic will gradually disappear and be gone from large portions of the North Pole by 2040.
Morning, CG.
The winters of my childhood (60s) seemed to have a lot more snow. I can recall that we had to remove the snow from the roof of the house pretty much every year (one winter, twice) due to the weight.
“As the ice retreats, the ocean transports more heat to the Arctic and the open water absorbs more sunlight, further accelerating the rate of warming and leading to the loss of more ice,” Holland explains. “This is a positive feedback loop with dramatic implications for the entire Arctic region.”
Ocean transport of warm water through the “conveyor” is accelerated by fresh water, melted glacier ice, pushing denser salt water mass downwards and is positioned in the North Atlantic.
How would the climate change if the Gulf Stream shut down?
A shut down of the Gulf Stream would suddenly decrease the amount of heat in the North Atlantic, leading to much colder temperatures in Europe and North America. A 2003 report prepared for the Department of Defense outlines what would happen if an abrupt climatic change similar to the 8200 years before present event were to recur today…
TEL AVIV (Haaretz) Dec. 10, 2006 – Israeli officials were shocked by Robert Gates’ statement to Congress that Israel has nuclear weapons, and they are worrying over why the U.S. secretary of defense-designate made this statement …
Israeli officials were also shocked by Gates’ expression of understanding for Iran’s desire to obtain nuclear weapons: He listed all the states near Iran that do have nuclear weapons – Pakistan, India and Israel – and noted that not long ago, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq also attempted to acquire the bomb. Furthermore, he said, the United States is a nuclear power, and its forces are deployed in Iran’s vicinity throughout the Middle East, and Russia, another nuclear power, is also nearby.
21% Just 21 percent approve of President Bush’s handling of the war, the lowest number he’s ever received. – an 8 pct drop- Most of that drop has been among Republicans and conservatives.
“Facing strong pressure to shift course in Iraq, President George W. Bush said in a veiled message to Iran and Syria on Monday that Iraq’s neighbors need to help Baghdad’s struggling government survive.”
“The point here was not to meet a deadline but to get the job done right and there’s still work to be done,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
“Bush is facing conflicting advice on how to shift course” [..]
Waahhhaa -‘he’s facing conflicting advice on how to shift course.’
Trent Lott did say on Sunday, Bush will talk to any and everybody.
Saudi Ambassador has abruptly resigned, leaves Washington without the usual fanfare and tributes. Colleagues said to be shocked. . The diplomatic is reported to want to spend more time with his family-his brother is ailing. (h/t:worldbriefs)
As noted above, the Arctic may be close to a tipping point that sees all-year-round ice disappear very rapidly in the next few decades, a team of scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the University of Washington, and McGill University, warn. They found that the ice system could be being weakened to such a degree by global warming that it soon accelerates its own decline, with the arctic being ice-free in September by 2040, or perhaps even 2030. This will have monumental changes on the arctic ecology and the lives of indigenous peoples.
But one quick way to cool the climate would be a small nuclear war </snark>. Even a small-scale nuclear war would have far-reaching consequences for the global climate, say scientists. Scientists using the latest supercomputers have modeled the effects of a limited conflict in the light of new concerns over weapons proliferation. For an exchange of 100 Hiroshima-sized bombs, the modeling suggested there would be millions of deaths, as well as climate cooling and ozone damage. (The link has a graph of global warming to date, and the cooling that could result from a nuclear winter, for comparison.)
People with many younger siblings are more likely to develop brain tumours, according to a new study. Those with four or more siblings have twice the risk of brain cancer compared to only-children, the study found. The finding suggests that an infectious agent, such as a virus, may be involved in some brain cancers, say the researchers, who compared over 13,000 incidences of the disease.
Recent observations by scientists tracking satellite orbits have shown that the thermosphere, which begins about 60 miles above Earth and extends up to 400 miles, is beginning to become less dense due to global warming. This confirms a prediction made in 1989 that the thermosphere will cool and contract because of increasing carbon dioxide levels. The new study is the first to analyze whether the observed change will become more pronounced over the next decade. This change will potentially affect low-orbiting spacecraft and satellites, which will experience less drag and stay in orbit longer as a result.
I read the 2030/40 timeline in that NASA-backed study findings, ‘the artic will be ice-free’ may already be out of date and over- optimistic.– Professor Chris Rapley, head of the British Antartic Survey
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe threatened Monday to try to topple the Harper government over the mission in Afghanistan unless the current mandate is changed.
Duceppe warned he might table a no-confidence motion if the mission isn’t “rapidly and profoundly” altered, with more resources put into reconstruction instead of fighting.
“We will not go along with an obtuse government that digs in its heels,” Duceppe told a Quebec City audience.
“Because if nothing changes, we are certainly going to get stuck.
“If [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper refuses to make these changes, we won’t hesitate to withdraw our support and, if need be, to defeat his government on the Afghan question.”
Shirl told me about this case last night and I looked it up this morning and found this article….this probably should be a diary as it’s importance is very great insofar as further inroads into our privacy and scary that big brother has a new tool. Hopefully someone will write a diary on this.
The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.
The technique is called a “roving bug,” and was approved by top U.S. Department of Justice officials for use against members of a New York organized crime family who were wary of conventional surveillance techniques such as tailing a suspect or wiretapping him.
What’s new:
The FBI is apparently using a novel surveillance technique on alleged Mafioso: activating his cell phone’s microphone and then just listening.
Bottom line:
While it appears this is the first use of the “roving bug” technique, it has been discussed in security circles for years.
Nextel cell phones owned by two alleged mobsters, John Ardito and his attorney Peter Peluso, were used by the FBI to listen in on nearby conversations. The FBI views Ardito as one of the most powerful men in the Genovese family, a major part of the national Mafia.
The surveillance technique came to light in an opinion published this week by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. He ruled that the “roving bug” was legal because federal wiretapping law is broad enough to permit eavesdropping even of conversations that take place near a suspect’s cell phone.
Kaplan’s opinion said that the eavesdropping technique “functioned whether the phone was powered on or off.” Some handsets can’t be fully powered down without removing the battery; for instance, some Nokia models will wake up when turned off if an alarm is set.
The federal government has called an inquiry into the cases of three other Canadians detained in Syria, the public safety minister said Tuesday after a separate inquiry released the second report on the Maher Arar affair.
Stockwell Day appointed former Supreme Court justice Frank Iacobucci to lead the inquiry involving Muayyed Nureddin, Abdullah Almalki and Ahmad El Maati.
Iacobucci will be asked to determine whether “the detention of these three individuals to Syria or Egypt resulted from actions of Canadian officials, particularly in relation to the sharing of information with foreign countries,” Day told reporters at a news conference in Ottawa.
Size does matter: Reuters/MSNBC
Tragic, isn’t it?
With India’s population over a billion, I’d call it proof that you don’t have to be big to get the job done.
What’s tragic is that if condoms were sized, every American man would buy the XXL.
One of the funniest things that ever happened to me as a pharmacist was the time this guy came in and complained to me about how “Them Magnum condoms, they too small…how come they don’t make a Double Magnum, you know what I’m sayin’?” He then proceeded to rant about it for another 5 minutes, all of us behind the counter trying our damnedest not to crack up.
Hilarious.
Imo, a guy like that just needs a hummer (of either type).
not interested in going the way of YouTube: NYT
How refreshing.
That was nice to read this morning.
Annan calls for urgent action on Darfur
Also see the UN Peacekeeping site. Worth the click.
Arctic ice melting away
Have you noticed a change in the climate there over the years?
Morning, CG.
The winters of my childhood (60s) seemed to have a lot more snow. I can recall that we had to remove the snow from the roof of the house pretty much every year (one winter, twice) due to the weight.
Last winter looked like this, though:
Wow! That is a lot of snow!
.
National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)
“Our research indicates that society can still minimize the impacts on Arctic ice,” NCAR scientist Marika Holland said.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
Ocean transport of warm water through the “conveyor” is accelerated by fresh water, melted glacier ice, pushing denser salt water mass downwards and is positioned in the North Atlantic.
How would the climate change if the Gulf Stream shut down?
A shut down of the Gulf Stream would suddenly decrease the amount of heat in the North Atlantic, leading to much colder temperatures in Europe and North America. A 2003 report prepared for the Department of Defense outlines what would happen if an abrupt climatic change similar to the 8200 years before present event were to recur today…
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence.".
TEL AVIV (Haaretz) Dec. 10, 2006 – Israeli officials were shocked by Robert Gates’ statement to Congress that Israel has nuclear weapons, and they are worrying over why the U.S. secretary of defense-designate made this statement …
Israeli officials were also shocked by Gates’ expression of understanding for Iran’s desire to obtain nuclear weapons: He listed all the states near Iran that do have nuclear weapons – Pakistan, India and Israel – and noted that not long ago, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq also attempted to acquire the bomb. Furthermore, he said, the United States is a nuclear power, and its forces are deployed in Iran’s vicinity throughout the Middle East, and Russia, another nuclear power, is also nearby.
Israel: Sorry That We Forgot Ambiguity
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Gates’ testimony was followed by their own PM,
Olmert’s loose lips brings outrage and calls for him to resign: – some view it as
A convenient time for a nuclear slip of the tongue that ultimately will free Mordechai Vanunu from house arrest.
21% Just 21 percent approve of President Bush’s handling of the war, the lowest number he’s ever received. – an 8 pct drop- Most of that drop has been among Republicans and conservatives.
No, the decider-in-chief has decided – He needs help.
“Facing strong pressure to shift course in Iraq, President George W. Bush said in a veiled message to Iran and Syria on Monday that Iraq’s neighbors need to help Baghdad’s struggling government survive.”
And if they say No, there’s always The Google.
Professor Juan Cole finds Saudis clerics can no longer wait for Bush to decide on the Saudi Royals’ ultimatum and have called for Sunnis Worldwide to mobilize against Iraqi Shiites.
UPDATE
Two important happenings in DC:
Really, there’s No Urgency: The decider-in-chief will delay announcing his new strategrry for Iraq until 2007- White House says it’s not a sign of trouble.
money graph
Waahhhaa -‘he’s facing conflicting advice on how to shift course.’
Trent Lott did say on Sunday, Bush will talk to any and everybody.
Saudi Ambassador has abruptly resigned, leaves Washington without the usual fanfare and tributes. Colleagues said to be shocked. . The diplomatic is reported to want to spend more time with his family-his brother is ailing. (h/t:worldbriefs)
As noted above, the Arctic may be close to a tipping point that sees all-year-round ice disappear very rapidly in the next few decades, a team of scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), the University of Washington, and McGill University, warn. They found that the ice system could be being weakened to such a degree by global warming that it soon accelerates its own decline, with the arctic being ice-free in September by 2040, or perhaps even 2030. This will have monumental changes on the arctic ecology and the lives of indigenous peoples.
But one quick way to cool the climate would be a small nuclear war </snark>. Even a small-scale nuclear war would have far-reaching consequences for the global climate, say scientists. Scientists using the latest supercomputers have modeled the effects of a limited conflict in the light of new concerns over weapons proliferation. For an exchange of 100 Hiroshima-sized bombs, the modeling suggested there would be millions of deaths, as well as climate cooling and ozone damage. (The link has a graph of global warming to date, and the cooling that could result from a nuclear winter, for comparison.)
People with many younger siblings are more likely to develop brain tumours, according to a new study. Those with four or more siblings have twice the risk of brain cancer compared to only-children, the study found. The finding suggests that an infectious agent, such as a virus, may be involved in some brain cancers, say the researchers, who compared over 13,000 incidences of the disease.
The concept of “hotspots” of biodiversity that can be targeted for protection may be too simplistic, as different species have differing essential territories. Use of a computer algorithm to maximize the number of species protected in the minimum amount of land set aside is recommended to address the problem.
Scientists have identified 23 cerebrospinal fluid protein biomarkers that may someday be used to identify a person living with Alzheimer’s disease. The researchers at Cornell University and the Weill Cornell Medical College say the protein biomarkers act as a neurochemical “fingerprint” for the disease.
In an advance toward understanding the origin of life on Earth, scientists have shown that parts of the Krebs cycle can run in reverse, producing biomolecules that could jump-start life with only sunlight and a mineral present in the primordial oceans. The Krebs cycle is a series of chemical reactions of central importance in cells — part of a metabolic pathway that changes carbohydrates, fats and proteins into carbon dioxide and water to generate energy.
Scientists from the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year project to catalog the 200,000 species thought to live in the oceans, have discovered species of shrimp, mussel and clam living at temperatures near boiling point three kilometers down in the equatorial Atlantic. They are unable to explain how the shrimp are able to live without being cooked on the walls of volcanic vents carrying fluids from the Earth’s core. More here, with photo of the newly-discovered “Yeti Crab.”
Recent observations by scientists tracking satellite orbits have shown that the thermosphere, which begins about 60 miles above Earth and extends up to 400 miles, is beginning to become less dense due to global warming. This confirms a prediction made in 1989 that the thermosphere will cool and contract because of increasing carbon dioxide levels. The new study is the first to analyze whether the observed change will become more pronounced over the next decade. This change will potentially affect low-orbiting spacecraft and satellites, which will experience less drag and stay in orbit longer as a result.
In the WaPo: Al Gore is waging a fierce campaign for recognition and an Oscar statuette for his global warming documentary, while reviving talk that he’s pursuing a bigger prize: the presidency.
In the NY Times: Without economic incentives, the needed investments in industrial cleanup, innovative low-carbon technologies, fuel-efficient cars and other ways of reducing energy waste will not occur.
As usual, a nice collection.
I read the 2030/40 timeline in that NASA-backed study findings, ‘the artic will be ice-free’ may already be out of date and over- optimistic.– Professor Chris Rapley, head of the British Antartic Survey
owned by red blooded Republicans.
CBC:
Shirl told me about this case last night and I looked it up this morning and found this article….this probably should be a diary as it’s importance is very great insofar as further inroads into our privacy and scary that big brother has a new tool. Hopefully someone will write a diary on this.
via CBC:
Just heard this one on the news.