Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Funny captions > Three little piggies went to the market...
Photo and photo editing credit: Catherine Francine Pelletier
Copyright 2011
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Les Conservateurs de l'Ontario veulent potentiellement éliminer La Cité collégiale et le collège Boréal puisqu'ils sont des "gaspillages" d'argent. (Cliquer ici)
Tim Hudak wants to potentially eliminate four community colleges in Ontario, two of which are the only francophone colleges in the entire province; this comes months after La Cité collégiale is declared the #1 college in the whole province, french or english, and has been declared to have the #1 television studies program in all of Ontario, again in both languages.
What do you think? Should francophones not have equal rights to post-secondary education in their own province?
Thursday, September 15, 2011
SheSays: "Birth order never takes a back seat"
"I never call “shotgun!”
Whenever I find myself travelling in a car with my younger brother and one of our parents, I always sit in the front. It doesn’t matter that we are both fully grown 20-somethings; I’m the eldest, so there’s no debating who gets the coveted passenger seat.
As the assertive (OK, bossy) first-born, I insist on the prime spot in the parental vehicle while he — the agreeable younger child — willingly concedes. This is just one of the many unspoken rules in our family that has come about as a result of our birth order.
While there are only 16 short months between our birthdays, my brother and I are vastly different when it comes to personality. I have always been overachieving, fiercely independent, and, at times, a bit of a stress case. I am overly conscientious, have a hard time breaking rules and will people-please to a fault. In comparison, he is easy-going but less disciplined, unlikely to take charge and much more dependent.
I know my brother and I aren’t alone in this seemingly typical eldest/youngest family dynamic. Among my friends — who run the gamut of the birth-order spectrum — there does seem to be some truth to the assumptions associated with sibling sequence. I know plenty of responsible first-borns with perfectionist tendencies and coddled last-borns who can do no wrong.
Birth-order stereotypes are most pronounced when it comes to only children. Without any competitors for their parents’ affections, single children are perceived (sometimes accurately so) as selfish, overindulged brats. Oh, wait — did I forget to mention middle children? Well, that seems about right. The oft-ignored middle siblings tend to get lost in the shuffle. While it’s fun to make casual observations about our own friends and families, we have to wonder whether there is any real truth behind these common stereotypes. Is there any conclusive evidence to suggest that one’s position on the family totem pole really does have a definitive impact on our personality?
Birth-order theory is a bit of a grey area, both supported and refuted in the world of pop psychology. For every theorist who argues in favour of the importance of sibling sequence on overall development, it seems there are about twice as many critics raising their eyebrows. Some even equate birth order with astrology — a cute personality predictor with no conclusive evidence to back it up.
Scientific validity aside, it doesn’t change the fact that I always get the front seat"
Whenever I find myself travelling in a car with my younger brother and one of our parents, I always sit in the front. It doesn’t matter that we are both fully grown 20-somethings; I’m the eldest, so there’s no debating who gets the coveted passenger seat.
As the assertive (OK, bossy) first-born, I insist on the prime spot in the parental vehicle while he — the agreeable younger child — willingly concedes. This is just one of the many unspoken rules in our family that has come about as a result of our birth order.
While there are only 16 short months between our birthdays, my brother and I are vastly different when it comes to personality. I have always been overachieving, fiercely independent, and, at times, a bit of a stress case. I am overly conscientious, have a hard time breaking rules and will people-please to a fault. In comparison, he is easy-going but less disciplined, unlikely to take charge and much more dependent.
I know my brother and I aren’t alone in this seemingly typical eldest/youngest family dynamic. Among my friends — who run the gamut of the birth-order spectrum — there does seem to be some truth to the assumptions associated with sibling sequence. I know plenty of responsible first-borns with perfectionist tendencies and coddled last-borns who can do no wrong.
Birth-order stereotypes are most pronounced when it comes to only children. Without any competitors for their parents’ affections, single children are perceived (sometimes accurately so) as selfish, overindulged brats. Oh, wait — did I forget to mention middle children? Well, that seems about right. The oft-ignored middle siblings tend to get lost in the shuffle. While it’s fun to make casual observations about our own friends and families, we have to wonder whether there is any real truth behind these common stereotypes. Is there any conclusive evidence to suggest that one’s position on the family totem pole really does have a definitive impact on our personality?
Birth-order theory is a bit of a grey area, both supported and refuted in the world of pop psychology. For every theorist who argues in favour of the importance of sibling sequence on overall development, it seems there are about twice as many critics raising their eyebrows. Some even equate birth order with astrology — a cute personality predictor with no conclusive evidence to back it up.
Scientific validity aside, it doesn’t change the fact that I always get the front seat"
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I have to respectfully disagree with Ms Napier. I am the eldest of two in my family, and my sister bulldozers herself over me every time. I guess I have more of the compliant typically younger sibling attitude and she the more bitchy typically elder sibling attitude. It doesn't change that my sister is stupidly stubborn about her getting the front seat whenever she wants, among many other things. Her happiness always seems to take precedence over anyone else's. So, really, she acts more like an only child, for whatever reason.
Ms Napier tells us that it is possible that birth order will shape your personality. I say why: the parents will always treat you differently based on your birth order, and also based on their birth order. Eldest siblings will typically be perfectionistic over-achievers for a reason: the parents will usually expect more from the elder sibling, who can also be referred to as the trail blazer in the family. Youngest siblings will have the easiest ride of all siblings because they generally do not have to trail-blaze, the parents' attitude will change a lot with the youngest: they are more laid-back.
Very important also is the parents' birth order. If the two parents are youngest in their family's brood, chances are they will probably prefer the younger sibling because they've gone through what that sibling has to go through. If both parents are only children they will probably pay more attention to themselves then to their child(ren). If a father is eldest in his family and his first-born is a son, chances are he will bond more with that son.
That's my opinion, in any case.
What do you think?
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Eddie Murphy reportedly the front-runner to host 2012 Oscars
"According to a report by Deadline, Eddie Murphy has emerged as the front-runner to present the 84th Academy Awards ceremony.
Brett Ratner is producing the show this year, and apparently Murphy's is the name he'll be putting forward to Academy president Tom Sherak.
It shouldn't come as a huge surprise to learn that Ratner is favouring Murphy, as the pair have recently worked together on upcoming comedy Tower Heist, a kind of everyman's Ocean's Eleven.
With his background in stand-up comedy, Murphy could certainly bring a bit of much needed energy to the proceedings, not too mention a welcome smattering of 'edge.'
Some rumour sites are reporting Murphy's role as a done deal, although there has been no official confirmation yet. According to Deadline, Oscars favourite Billy Crystal will be involved in some capacity.
Eddie Murphy received a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Academy for Dreamgirls in 2007.
Tower Heist opens on 4 November 2011." - By Matt Maytum, TotalFilm.com
New Planet May Be Among Most Earthlike—Weather Permitting
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An artist's rendering of an Earthlike alien planet. Illustration courtesy L. Calçada, ESO |
"A new planet found about 36 light-years away could be one of the most Earthlike worlds yet—if it has enough clouds, a new study says.
The unpoetically named HD85512b was discovered orbiting an orange dwarfstar in the constellation Vela. Astronomers found the planet using the European Southern Observatory's High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher, or HARPS, instrument in Chile.
Radial velocity is a planet-hunting technique that looks for wobbles in a star's light, which can indicate the gravitational tugs of orbiting worlds.
The HARPS data show that the planet is 3.6 times the mass of Earth, and the new world orbits its parent star at just the right distance for water to be liquid on the planet's surface—a trait scientists believe is crucial for life as we know it.
"The distance is exactly the limit where you want to be to have liquid water," said study leader Lisa Kaltenegger of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy.
"If you scale it to our system, it's a bit further out than Venus is to our sun." At that distance, the planet likely receives a bit more solar energy from its star than Earth does from the sun. (Explore an interactive solar system.)
But Kaltenegger and colleagues calculate that a cloud cover of at least 50 percent would reflect enough of the energy back into space to prevent overheating.
On average, Earth has 60 percent cloud cover, so partly cloudy skies on HD85512b are "not out of the question," she said.
Of course, clouds of water vapor depend on the presence of an atmospheresimilar to Earth's, something that can't be detected on such distant planets with current instruments.
Models of planet formation predict that planets with more than ten times Earth's mass should have atmospheres dominated by hydrogen and helium, Kaltenegger said. Less massive worlds—including HD85512b—are more likely to have Earthlike atmospheres, made mostly of nitrogen and oxygen.
New World "A Strong Candidate" for Habitability
So far, the newly detected planet is only the second rocky world outside our solar system to be confirmed in its star's habitable zone—the region around a star that's not too hot and not too cold for liquid water.
The other contender, planet Gliese 581d, was previously discovered using the HARPS instrument. This world lies just on the cool edge of its star's habitable zone. (See "Most Earthlike Planet Yet Found May Have Liquid Oceans.")
Another promising planet, Gliese 581g, was discovered in 2010 and dubbed the most Earthlike planet yet. But controversy surrounds the claim, with some experts declaring that the entire planet is actually a data glitch.
Manfred Cuntz, director of the astronomy program at the University of Texas, Arlington, noted that more information is needed before anyone can speculate whether aliens are wandering around the newfound planet.
"It's not their fault no extra information [about the planet's atmosphere] is available right now," Cuntz said of the research team. "It looks like this is a strong candidate, in principle."
In addition to size and location, HD85512b has two other points in its favor for potentially harboring life, Cuntz said.
The planet's orbit is nearly circular, which would provide a stable climate, and its parent star, HD85512, is older—and therefore less active—than our sun, which would lower the likelihood of electromagnetic storms damaging the planet's atmosphere.
Not only that, but in principle, the age of the system—5.6 billion years—"gives life a chance to originate and develop," he said. By contrast, our own solar system is thought to be about 4.6 billion years old.
New Planet a Great Place for Yoga?
Given current limits on space travel, it's unlikely for now that humans will get to visit HD85512b.
But if we could get there, the newfound planet might seem like a fairly alien world: muggy, hot, and with a gravity 1.4 times that of Earth's, study leader Kaltenegger said.
On the bright side, "hot yoga might be one of the things you don't have to pay for there," she quipped.
The paper describing HD85512b appears online at arXiv.org and has been accepted for publication in the journal Astronomy and Astrophysics." - Rachel Kaufman, for National Geographic News.
Published August 30, 2011
Is this the face of Jack the Ripper?
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| On this day 123 years ago (Aug. 30th 2011), Jack the Ripper claimed his first victim. But who was this serial killer? This new e-fit finally puts a face to Carl Feigenbaum, a key suspect from Germany. "Jack the Ripper is the world's most famous cold case - the identity of the man who brutally murdered five women in London's East End in autumn 1888 remains a mystery. |
More than 200 suspects have been named. But to Ripper expert Trevor Marriott, a former murder squad detective, German merchant Carl Feigenbaum is the top suspect.
Convicted of murdering his landlady in Manhattan, Feigenbaum died in the electric chair in New York's Sing Sing prison in 1894. His lawyer suspected him of the Ripper murders too.
No photos of Feigenbaum exist. So Marriott has produced this new e-fit for BBC One's National Treasures Live, created from the description on the admittance form when he was in prison on remand in New York.
Why does Marriott think Feigenbaum is Jack the Ripper? Evidence, in the form of police documents and hundreds of letters to the authorities and newspapers, give us some clues.
The assumption has long been that Jack must have had anatomical knowledge because of the skill with which his victims' organs were removed.
But it's possible these were cut out in the mortuary, rather than by Jack at the scene. The 1832 Anatomy Act made it legal for medical personnel to remove organs for training purposes.
This theory is supported by documents on the fourth victim, Catherine Eddowes. The inquest report shows only 14 minutes elapsed from the time the police did their last sweep of the square in which she was killed and her body being discovered.
Was this really enough time for someone to have killed Eddowes, removed her uterus with surgical precision, and all in near complete blackness? Regardless of one's medical knowledge, this seems a stretch.
So Marriott believes Jack wasn't necessarily a surgeon after all.
He began to investigate other groups who might have been in the area. St Katharine and the London Docks are a short walk from Whitechapel, a place merchant seamen would have flocked to as it was an infamous red light district. Such close proximity would have made it easy for the killer to steal back to his ship unnoticed.
The gaps between the murders also suggest the killer may have been a traveller.
This theory fits with other facts, too. Although some suggest the killer was a resident of Whitechapel, wouldn't locals have given him up to the police? Especially after a reward was offered.
After some digging, Marriott came across records which showed the Nord Deutsche Line, a German merchant vessel group, had a ship called the Reiher docked at the time of the murders.
When Marriott investigated the seamen aboard this ship, he came across the convicted murderer Feigenbaum.
Having watched his client die in the electric chair, Feigenbaum's lawyer William Lawton told the press he believed him to be responsible for the Ripper murders in London. Feigenbaum had confessed, he said, to suffering from a disease which periodically drove him to murder and mutilate women.
What was this disease which made him undertake such brutal acts? Today, a psychiatrist is likely to describe it as a psychotic episode. Fortunately, few people with psychotic tendencies go on to become serial killers, but those who do gain an infamy matched by no other crime.
At the time, everyone believed all five women had been killed by the same man.
But having reviewed the evidence, Elizabeth Stride may have died at the hands of another killer, as everything about her murder is different to the others.
"Firstly the time the murder took place, and the knife used to cut her throat was much smaller than all of the other victims, hence the knife wound to her throat was much smaller and she had no other mutilations," says Marriott.
"The location was different to all of the others. The murder was right by the side of a workers' club which was packed with men at the time."
And now a serious question mark hangs over the death of Mary Kelly too.
"Fresh material has come to light which may suggest she was not Mary Kelly but someone else," says Marriott. "If that is the case, there is a motive and likely suspects for her murder."
As a forensic anthropologist, to review the ultimate cold case is a privilege. Initially, I thought Carl Feigenbaum was that serial killer. His profile fit.
But further evidence, outlined above, may show these murders were not all committed by the same person. Feigenbaum could have been responsible for one, some or perhaps all.
We have shed new light on this old case. But it is certainly not solved, and this dark tale has many more secrets to give up before we know, for sure, the name of the man we call Jack the Ripper." - By Dr Xanthe Mallett (Forensic anthropologist, University of Dundee), additional reporting by Megan Lane (BBC).
Start Quote
What Feigenbaum allegedly told his lawyer."
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"Age 54. Complexion med[ium]. Eyes grey. Hair dark brown. Stature 5ft 4 1/2. Weight 126 [pounds, 57kg]. Medium sized head, hat 6 7/8 or 7. Shoes 8. Hair grows thin on top of head. Small slim neck. Eyes small and deep-set. Eyebrows curved. Forehead high and heavily arched. Nose large, red and has raw pimples. Teeth poor + nearly all gone on left sides. Anchor in india ink on right hand at base of thumb and first finger. Round scar or birthmark on right leg below left knee." - Feigenbaum's prison admittance form. |
Why Do We Have Nightmares?
"A source of confusion or anxiety for most, nightmares may serve a very beneficial purpose, according to researchers.
Nightmares are helpful to our survival or else they probably would have been done away with by evolution, said Deirdre Barrett, a psychologist at Harvard University. Barrett theorizes that nightmares act as the brain's way of focusing a person's attention on issues they need to address.
"Nightmares probably evolved to help make us anxious about potential dangers," Barrett said. "Evenpost-traumatic nightmares, which just re-traumatize us, may have been useful in ancestral times when a wild animal that had attacked you, or a rival tribe that had invaded might well be likely to come back."
But this evolutionary alarm bell may not be so useful in today's world.
"With the modern dangers of house fires, car crashes, rapes and muggings unlikely to repeat soon for the same victims, this adaptive mechanism doesn’t always serve us well," Barrett exlpained. "However, some nightmares may be calling to your attention something you might do well to worry about—or something that, once you are more conscious of the concern, you can convince your unconscious to stop wasting time on."
How to stop a nightmare
"People can come up with a different ending to the nightmare - a mastery dream," Barrett told Life's Little Mysteries. "Some people prefer to fight off an attacker, some people would rather be rescued by someone else. Some want a realistic solution, for others, a metaphoric resolution is more satisfying."
"Once they’ve come up with their preferred ending, they can rehearse this while awake and then at bedtime, to remind themselves that they want to have this ending, should the nightmare occur again."
However, before trying to change a nightmare, Barret recommends attempting to decipher its true meaning. Sometimes, analyzing a bad dream can help a person see its correlation to their daytime worries.
Dreamscapes across cultures
Some cultures and religions, such as the Native American Lakota tribe, rely on dreams and nightmares to point them in the right direction when an important decision needs to be made, according to "The Dream Seekers: Native American Visionary Traditions of the Great Plains," (Univ of Oklahoma Press, 1994).
In 2005, Dutch-sponsored researcher Elizabeth Mohkamsing-den Boer recorded the nightmares of indigenous Surinamese and Australian tribes. She found that their dreams often correlated to significant events that the dreamers were either experiencing or anticipating in their lives.
During her research, the tribes people frequently told Mohkamsing-den Boer that "dreams prepare your emotions," as they believe that nightmares and dreams provide guidance when a difficult decision needs to be made. Mohkamsing-den Boer concluded that nightmares have a helpful role during times of change or uncertainty, and refers to them as transitional dreams.
Nightmares are a normal part of sleep, and their frequency varies from one person to the next. While it may seem that having numerous nightmares in a short period of time is a bad sign, it may be that people who often experience nightmares simply have more vivid dreams in general, according to Barrett.
"People should seek help for their nightmares if they are carrying over into their daytime mood and making them very anxious, or if they are making them afraid to go to sleep," Barrett told Life's Little Msyteries. "However, some people have frequent nightmares and don’t particularly mind them— they even find them interesting." " - By Remy Melina, Life's Little Mysteries Staff Writer
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