I go back and re-read Last and First Men and Star Maker every couple of years for over 30 years now… This Man Was Amazingly Accurate In His Visions Of The Future…
From Wikipedia
Stapledon’s work directly influenced Arthur C. Clarke, Brian Aldiss, Stanislaw Lem, C. S. Lewis and John Maynard Smith and indirectly influenced countless others, contributing so many ideas to the world of science-fiction (most of them inspired by his readings in philosophy) that they are too numerous to list. Although his work predated the appearance of the word “transhuman” in 1966, both the transhuman condition and the supermind (composed of many individual consciousnesses) form recurring themes in his work. Star Maker also contained the first known description of Dyson spheres. Freeman Dyson credits this novel with giving him the idea. Last and First Men also featured early descriptions of genetic engineering and terraforming. Sirius describes a dog whose intelligence is increased to the level of a human being’s.
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For $39.99… You can put your six year old to work as a bonafide pimp…
Of course there’s one for the slightly older kid also… at $49.99
Worried About Sending Your Little One Out On The Street Alone?… Not To Worry… Amazon can help you fix up Mom or Big Sis to pull double duty…for only $69.99
I would suggest Big Sis though… It might be a little harder to get junior to convincingly pimp slap Mom…
Men who frequently masturbate appear to have a lower risk of developing prostate cancer, Australian researchers reported.
Researchers from the Cancer Council of Victoria found that men who masturbated more than five times each week were one-third less likely to develop the cancer.
The study surveyed 1,000 men who developed prostate cancer and 1,250 who did not, and all were between the ages of 20 and 50, according to a report on Monday on the gay and lesbian news site PlanetOut.
Researchers told the BBC last week that the prostate produces one of the fluids involved in ejaculation and that frequent masturbation appears to flush out carcinogens.
Sexual intercourse may not have the same effect because it increases the risk of contracting a sexually transmitted disease, which could raise the risk of cancer, the Web site reported.
Tehran’s former police chief Reza Zarei attempted suicide in prison yesterday, a month after being arrested for consorting with six naked women in a brothel. In the aftermath of the scandal, the Times, the Associated Press, and the BBC all reported that prostitutes are becoming more visible on Iranian streets. Given the Islamic dress code, how do Persian prostitutes signal their trade?
Location, location, location. In the 1970s, Bostonians looking for a proverbial good time went to the “Combat Zone” and New Yorkers flocked to 42nd Street; in contemporary Iran, the holy city of Qom is known (unofficially) as a place of “both pilgrimage and pleasure.” There, prostitutes wearing veils and even chadors mill about temples or sit together in public courtyards where men can inspect them. Sometimes a male go-between offers “introductions,” at which point the prostitutes pull aside their headgear so the potential client can get a glimpse, but the whole process is fairly subtle. For an outsider, it’s difficult to pick a street girl out of a crowd.
Read More HERE
Inside a busy church hall early Friday morning, many of the 60 men waiting for a free breakfast tilted their heads upward to watch news flashes periodically scroll across a wall-mounted television. “Government in Crisis . . . Minister of Economy Quits . . . Price of Food Increasing Worldwide . . . ”
This country, in theory, should be protected from the global food crisis. Argentina’s government touts steady economic growth, and in recent years the country has become a top exporter of the same grains, vegetable oils and beef that are now in such high demand.
But instead Argentina is becoming a symbol of the far-reaching effects of global food inflation. Like other developing countries that depend on agricultural exports, Argentina is struggling mightily to figure out how to protect local food sources without breaking the backbone of its economy.
Read More HERE
Farmers and food executives appealed fruitlessly to federal officials yesterday for regulatory steps to limit speculative buying that is helping to drive food prices higher. Meanwhile, some Americans are stocking up on staples such as rice, flour and oil in anticipation of high prices and shortages spreading from overseas.
Their pleas did not find a sympathetic audience at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), where regulators said high prices are mostly the result of soaring world demand for grains combined with high fuel prices and drought-induced shortages in many countries.
While farmers here and abroad generally are benefiting from the high prices, even they have been burned by a tidal wave of investors and speculators pouring into the futures markets for corn, wheat, rice and other commodities and who are driving up prices in a way that makes it difficult for farmers to run their businesses.
“Something is wrong,” said National Farmers Union President Tom Buis, adding that the CFTC’s refusal to rein in speculators will force farmers and consumers to take their case to Congress.
It could get far worse. Another “hidden issue” is the scarcity of land still available for farming, he said. In the past, the United States had plenty of farmland to provide more crops as food demands grew. But land is finite, and after all these years, we’re beginning to run short, Doering said. “For the first time in our history, we’re pushing up against the edge in terms of quality land,” Doering said. “We’re in a somewhat fixed box.”
READ MORE HERE and HERE
Cool Stuff, Information, Uncategorized | TheFourEyes April 27, 2008 | 
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