Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Dominion of Melchizedek



Size: 14 square miles

Small nations have often been used as tax-free havens and centers of fraud and identity theft, and the Dominion of Melchizedek, is certainly one of the more extreme examples. The upstart nation was formed in 1986 by Evan David Pedley and his son Mark Logan Pedley, both of whom have since served time in jail. Using the claim of sovereignty as a shield, for a number of years this island in the South Pacific (part of Antarctica) has operated as an offshore haven for phony banks and nearly every variety of fraud. The Dominion once issued passports for $10,000 a piece and has supposedly sold fake business licenses that were used by conmen and other swindlers to give their front companies a veneer of authenticity. The country has repeatedly been blasted as an outright sham, both by regulators and by the media (60 Minutes once profiled the DoM and was promptly sued by it), but it has yet to be shut down, and its website is still up and readily accepting applications for citizenship (for a fee, of course).

The Dominion claims to be an ecclesiastical state in the tradition of Vatican City, and lists several small cays in the south Pacific (one of which is some six feet under water) as its territory, along with a previously unclaimed part of Antarctica. The DoM has claimed that its sovereignty has been acknowledged by everything from the United Nations to the Central African Republic, but these allegations are widely considered to be false. This hasn’t stopped it from continually asserting its authenticity both online and in the media, most absurdly in 1995, when it briefly threatened France with nuclear war.

Friday, February 22, 2013

Ancient Egyptian lake discovered from space



American researchers have said they discovered the remnants of a massive lake in Egypt as large as one of the Great Lakes. The discovery of the over 100,000 years old lake was confirmed from space shuttle imagery.

ScienceNews.org reported that the images revealed a lake wider than Lake Erie that once existed a few miles west of the current Nile River.

From the time it first appeared about 250,000 years ago, the lake in Egypt’s Tushka region would have grown and shrunk periodically until finally drying up about 80,000 years ago, researchers say.

Knowing where such ancient bodies of water were located helps archaeologists understand the kind of environment encountered by Homo Sapiens migrating out of Africa, study leader Ted Maxwell, a geologist at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, said in statements to reporters.

“You realize that hey, this place was full of really large lakes when people were wandering into the rest of the world,” he says.

Desert winds have eroded and sands have buried much of the region’s landscape, says Maxine Kleindienst, an anthropologist at the University of Toronto, but planned field studies will search for ancient shorelines suggested by the radar images.

Today Egyptians rely almost exclusively on the Nile and its annual floods for their water.

The ancient lakes, Maxwell says, suggest that such flooding was already a fixture a quarter million years ago.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Tristan da Cunha



The single most remote inhabited place in the world, Tristan de Cunha is an archipelago of small islands located in the southern Atlantic Ocean. The nearest land to the island is South Africa, which is roughly 1,700 miles away, while the South American coast lies at a distance of about 2,000 miles. Despite its tiny size and astonishing isolation, Tristan de Cunha has enjoyed a rich history. The island was first discovered in 1506 by a Portuguese explorer, and was later annexed by the British, who feared the French might use it as a point of departure to rescue Napoleon, who had been exiled to nearby St. Helena. A small group of British, Italian, and American settlers began living on the island in the 1800s, and it is still under the U.K.’s jurisdiction today. The islands now have a total population 271 people, most of whom are descended from those original settlers and make their living as farmers and craft makers. Although the island now has some television stations and access to the internet via satellite, it is still the most physically isolated location on planet earth. The island’s rocky geography makes building an airstrip impossible, so the only way to travel to it is by boat. It was once regularly connected to South Africa by a British transport ship, but this vessel has since stopped calling on the island, and outside of the occasional cargo vessel, now the only visitors to Tristan da Cunha are deep sea fishing boats.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

5 Lies Men Speak to Women

I can fix anything

This is a very common lie a man speaks to a woman, Men usually love to think that they can fix everything and nothing is impossible for them, so they can do everything; Men speak this lie even if they have no clue of the actual problem, but their ego stops them to admit this fact.

I never lie to you

This is another lie which boys frequently speak to their girlfriends, there are several reasons for this lie, first they want to proof girls that they are Mister nice guy, second Guys say they don’t fib because they want girl to believe about their sincerity towards the girl.

You are looking awesome as always

Girls should realize this fact: they can’t look beautiful each and every time; they should keep this in mind, if their boyfriend is praising her every time they both meet ,this means he is lying with her and he is surely flirting.

I tried to call you but…

Girl asks his boyfriend: “Why you dint call me last night”, boy replies: “I called you but your mobile was not responding”; Boy’s reply is like this, because he fears of losing his girlfriend,so he always avoids to tell the truth that he forgot to call her, so he tries to cover up his mistake by telling a lie to his girl.

Nothing wrong,I am Ok

Women and men are completely different when it comes to what’s bothering them. Men like to look strong in front of their women. Again its something to do with their egos. If he says Nothing is wrong but you know hes lying just leave him alone. Men like to deal with their problems alone unlike women who have 10 girlfriends over for cake and coffee so they can all sort out their problems.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Most Powerful Rivers in the World

Here are the top ten most powerful rivers in the world. This list is based upon the flow rate of the river itself.

10. Mekong River

The Mekong River is located in China. It runs through Burma, Thailand, Yunnan, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia. The Mekong is the 11th longest river in the world and the 7th longest in Asia. The river is said to be about 2,703 miles long. Because of the seasonal changes that cause variations in flow as well as the appearance of rapids and waterfalls in the river, the Mekong is extremely difficult to navigate. This river so strong that the level of the river located in Cambodia is lower than the high tide at sea! In 2000, the river’s rapids and tides became so overwhelming that it flooded, killing about 90 people.

9. Lena River

Flowing through Eastern Siberia, the Lena River is the 10th longest river in the world, bringing water 2,734 miles until it flows into the Sea. The river flows northeast and joins with two other rivers and finally flows into the Laptev Sea. The river is known to have strong links to stream flow, especially during the summer and spring when the water is much warmer than usual. Once it is spring, the ice on the Lena River melts before the ice downstream does, which usually causes flooding because iceblocks hinder the flow of water. In 2007, the river over-flooded and more than 1,000 houses and 12 towns were under water.

8. Parana River

The Parana River is the 14th longest river in the world. Though most of the river is located in Brazil, it also runs through other parts of South America such as Argentina and Paraguay. The river is about 2,485 miles long and flows into three other rivers. On the southern part of the river, flooding is extremely common. The strong currents that the Parana brings have been said to erode river shores, destroy buildings, and cause many people to have to move out of their homes. The high winds and the El-Nino effect also play big roles in how powerful the river is.

7. Yenisey River

The Yenisey River is the biggest river that flows into the Arctic Ocean. At 3,445 miles long, the river is the 5th largest in the world. The river flows through Mongolia, the Yenisei Gulf, and then drains in the center of Siberia. The upper part of the river is subject to floods a swell as rapids. Because part of the river exits through the Darkhad Valley, studies have shown that it is often blocked by ice. Once the glaciers retreat, it is said that as much as 500km ³ of water could escape from the river and cause a complete debacle.

6. Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the only river in the U.S. to make the list! The Mississippi River is the second largest in the U.S. It expands across 2,340 miles of land. It starts at Lake Itasca in Minnesota and travels all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. Those who live along the banks of the river often have to fear its high tides and extremely powerful waters. Many of the levees that have been built to hold back the water have proven extremely unhelpful. In 2008, many were afraid that the river would over-flood even more than it already had. The water was topping levees and many had to be evacuated from their homes.

5. Brahmaputra River

The Brahmaputra River is located in Bahaduradbad, Bangladesh. It starts in southwestern Tibet, goes through the Himalayas, the Assam Valley, and then through Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra River is about 1,800 miles long and is mostly used for transportation as well as irrigation. While most of this river is navigable, some parts are prone to catastrophic flooding in the spring once the snow of the Himalayans melt. This river is also one of the few that is known to have something called a tidal bare. This means that incoming tides form waves that travel up the river against the direction of the current. This is what researchers call a true tidal wave. This makes the Brahmaputra River that much stronger.

4. Yangtze River

The Yangtze River is the longest river in Asia as well as in China. It is the 3rd largest river in the world. The river stretches to about 3,964 miles and flows through East China Sea in Shanghai. The Yangtze River is known for its flooding, and dams that have been built to prevent water from flowing outside of the river’s banks have proven to be useless. Researchers have realized that the river actually has three different types of floods and that its tides are much too strong during some seasons to prevent water from overflowing. Many use the river for electricity and water transport, but they often, if not always have to live in the fear of their towns being flooded.

3. Orinoco River

The Orinoco River is one of the longest in South America. In fact, it is the 3rd longest in South America. The river is 1,330 miles long and flows through Colombia and Venezuela. It begins at the Delgago Chalbaud Mountain. Once the river passes the forested terrain and waterfalls, it slows. However, the waterfalls become rapids which have proven to be extremely difficult to navigate, even though during this time the river is downstream. Eventually the river dumps into the Atlantic Ocean. The river also experiences coastal upwelling year-round, which often poses a threat for those who live close to the river.

2. Congo River

You might know the Congo River as the Zaire River. Whichever name you are familiar with, this river is the largest river in Western Central Africa. At 2,922 miles, the Congo River is the second longest river in Africa. This river is also Africa’s most powerful river. Even though the Congo starts off as a peaceful river, especially near Lake Tanganyika, it eventually begins to widen and also picks up speed during this time. Eventually the water passes through the “Gates of Hell,” which is a 75-mile long canyon that presents rapids that are impassable. At the Upper Congo, the river ends, but has a 60 mile stretch of rapids that make it dangerous and powerful.

1. Amazon River

The Amazon River is the largest river in the world when looking at its volume. It is located in South America, and because it is so large, it can count for at least 1/5 of the world’s complete river flow. This river is so powerful and so big that there aren’t any points along the river that can be crossed by a bridge. The river has an extremely powerful discharge at the mouth which can release as much as eight trillion gallons of water each day. The river is said to be about 150 ft. deep

Friday, February 15, 2013

10 Things Women Do Better Than Men

Women drive better than men.

Well this reverses a social myth – that women are bad drivers. Carnegie Mellon University researchers found after analyzing a lot of traffic data in 2007 that men are 77% more likely to die in a car accident than women, keeping the miles driven constant. So next time when your husband asks you to hand over the car keys, just give him this article.

Women remember appearances better than men.

Some would say, “Why not? Don’t women pay all their attention to appearances?” Well, say what you may, but only a loser complains about somebody for being better than him! Terrence Horgan, research fellow in psychology at Ohio State University, and her co-researchers found in a study that women are more accurate in describing appearances after seeing people once. The study was published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Women cooperate better than men.

We can see this everywhere, but still if you want a citation, here it is. A study by Rolf Kuemmerli and other researchers at Edinburgh and Lausanne universities indicated that women cooperate better than men. In the research, based on games played by 100 Swiss students, women cooperated with others almost twice as much as men did.

Women eat better than men.

This is probably not so obvious, for rarely do we notice gender differences in eating habits. A survey involving 14000 Americans, conducted by University of Minnesota, revealed that men are more likely to eat frozen pizza and meat, whereas women are more likely to eat fruits and vegetables.

Women perform better than men in timed tests.

So if time is precious, women are better at preserving it than men. A study by Vanderbilt University researchers in 2006 found that women score better in timed intelligence tests than men. The study, published in the May-June issue of the journal Intelligence, didn’t find much difference in un-timed tests, which meant women had a quicker mind.

Women perceive their relationships better than men.

Talk about relationships and most men will frown. Now you know why – they know so little about their relationships! A Hebrew University of Jerusalem study, after surveying 97 couples in the United States, found that women are more perceptive than men in describing their relationships. The study, published in ScienceDaily, reported that women were much more accurate in describing the perception of their partners than men.

Women communicate better than men.

This is now scientifically proven and acknowledged. Louann Brizendine, neuro-psychiatrist at the University of California at San Francisco, found in a study that women can process 20000 words a day compared to men’s 7000 words (Louann Brizendine,The Female Brain, Morgan Road Books). This difference, as per Brizendine’s study, is more biological than social, which starts as early as the fetal stage.

Women learn better than men.

That is why girls get better grades in school on an average than boys in many parts of the world. Dr Simone Kruger of Edge Hill University, UK, found in her research based on remote learners that women learners were more successful in sharing ideas and experiences with each other, and hence learn t more efficiently than men.

Women invest better than men.

You don’t believe it, do you? We all know fewer women invest in stocks than men do, but the few women who invest in shares do better than their male counterparts. A study by the National Association of Investors Corporation (NAIC) for the University of California found that women earn on an average 1.4% more than men in their share portfolios.

Women cope with stress better than men.

A study at the University of California, Los Angeles, published in the July 2000 issue of Psychological Review, found some biological and behavioral differences in the ways men and women cope with stress. It found that women tend to seek contact with others and social support when they are under stress, which is a psychologically much better way of coping with stress than the “fight-or-flight” approach of men.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Symphorophilia: The Accident Fetish



You may have heard the urban legend about people who could only get turned on during a car crash and of course die during intercourse. While this rumor started after J.G. Ballard released the novel Crash in 1973, accident fetishism is a real phenomenon. Symphorophiles get sexually aroused only by serious accidents, although the danger doesn't necessarily need to be related to car crashes, fires, explosions, collapsing buildings and more can all excite these fetishists