In the beginning of March, members of the Kalenjin and Kisii-tribe were fighting for land. This happened in the Olmelil Valley, in western Kenya.
1. Mormom Temple Garments
In some denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, the temple garment (or the Garment of the Holy Priesthood, or informally, the garment or garments) is a set of sacred underclothing worn by adult adherents who have taken part in a ritual ceremony known as washing and anointing ordinance, usually in a temple as part of the Endowment ceremony. Adherents consider them to be sacred and may be offended by public discussion of the garments. Anti-Mormon activists have publicly displayed or defaced temple garments to show their opposition to the LDS Church.
According to generally-accepted Mormon doctrine, the marks in the garments are sacred symbols (Buerger 2002, p. 58). One proposed element of the symbolism, according to early Mormon leaders, was a link to the “Compass and the Square”, the symbols of freemasonry (Morgan 1827, pp. 22-23), to which Joseph Smith (creator of Mormonism) had been initiated about seven weeks prior to his introduction of the Endowment ceremony.
2. Scientology E-Meter
An E-meter is an electronic device manufactured by the Church of Scientology at their Gold Base production facility. It is used as an aid by Dianetics and Scientology counselors and counselors-in-training in some forms of auditing, the application of the techniques of Dianetics and Scientology to another or to oneself for the express purpose of addressing spiritual issues.
E-meter sessions are conducted by church employees known as auditors. Scientology materials traditionally refer to the subject as the “preclear,” although auditors continue to use the meter well beyond the clear level. The preclear holds a pair of cylindrical electrodes (“cans”) connected to the meter while the auditor asks the preclear a series of questions and notes both the verbal response and the activity of the meter. Auditor training describes many types of needle movements, with each having their own special significance.
A 1971 ruling of the United States District Court, District of Columbia (333 F. Supp. 357), specifically stated, “The E-meter has no proven usefulness in the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease, nor is it medically or scientifically capable of improving any bodily function.”
3. Exorcism
Exorcism is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed (taken control of). The practice is quite ancient and still part of the belief system of many religions, though it is seen mostly in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Solemn exorcisms, according to the Canon law of the church, can only be exercised by an ordained priest (or higher prelate), with the express permission of the local bishop, and only after a careful medical examination to exclude the possibility of mental illness. The Catholic Encyclopaedia (1908) enjoined: “Superstition ought not to be confounded with religion, however much their history may be interwoven, nor magic, however white it may be, with a legitimate religious rite”.
1. You Can Be Shot Into Space
Celestis made headlines in 1997 when they launched the cremated remains of 60’s icon Timothy Leary and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry into space. For a fairly reasonable fee (starting at $695), you can send a “symbolic portion” of yourself on the next available mission, riding alongside a commercial or scientific satellite.
You can come back to Earth after the flight, or pay more to remain in orbit. You’ll stay there for an estimated 10 to 240 years before reentering the atmosphere in a blaze of fire. In the future, Celestis plans to launch cremated remains into the moon’s orbit, to the surface of the moon, and possibly into deep space.
2. You Can Be Exploded With Fireworks
Yes, you can literally “go out with a bang.”
Companies like Heaven’s Above Fireworks can pack a small portion of your ashes into professional-grade fireworks and stage a memorial display for your survivors. You can choose a big, noisy, colorful display or a quieter, more understated event.
For a smaller fee, you can have your ashes stuffed into small, self-fired rockets, so your family can have their own private fireworks ceremony at home.
3. You Can Be Mixed Into a Coral Reef
Environmentalist? Ocean lover? You can create your own “living legacy” by having your ashes turned into an artificial coral reef. Your remains will help restore damaged reefs and create a nurturing marine environment for fish and other forms of sea life.
Starting around $4,000, Eternal Reefs will mix your cremated remains into concrete, shape the artificial reef and place the reef out on the sea floor. Larger personal reefs can hold up to four people and include pets. If that’s too pricey, you can have your remains mixed together with others and as part of a complete reef system.
4. You Can Be Crushed Into a Diamond
Jewelry from human remains? It sounds ghoulish, but we’re not talking about necklaces made from bones or teeth.
With companies like LifeGem, your carbon remains (or a lock of your hair) can be crushed into a gemstone that is identical to a natural diamond on a molecular level. Using modern technology, this process only takes a few months instead of millions of years.
It’s not cheap, though. Expect to shell out a few grand for the smallest gems, and that doesn’t include the cost of the setting.
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See more at Budget Life
Between the beatings from the guards and the “group shower aerobics,” inmates find themselves with plenty of time to think and use their imagination. Some write poetry, some take classes and attain their high school degrees, and others, well, they come up with creative ways of making “hooch.”
For those of you unfamiliar with the term, “hooch” is slang for moonshine, or any home-made alcoholic concoction that will get you drunk.
In a strange twist of events, a prison on the Isle of Portland in Dorset installed numerous alcohol-based hand gel pumps, in an effort to combat the H1N1 virus, or swine flu. The idea was a good one, as hand-washing is the No.1 method of preventing the spread of flu germs. But the key ingredient in the hand-wash is alcohol, and some imaginative prisoners decided to get their drunk on by ingesting the gel. Some drank it straight-up, while others mixed it with sugar and fruit to make “hooch.”
Prison officials had to remove the wall-mounted hand sanitizers mere hours after installing them, thanks to a drunken fight between inmates. As it turns out, this whole mess could have been avoided, had the prison gone with a non-alcohol based hand foam which did the same job. Only it was more expensive than the gel, and was disregarded.
from WeInterrupt
As seen in The World’s Best Ever, The Terrafugia ain’t the prettiest car in the world but, it flies, and real delivery might happen as soon as the end of 2011.
“The “roadable plane” fits in home garages, runs on either high-octane gas or aviation fuel, gets 30 to 35 miles a gallon on the ground and 5 gallons an hour in the air, and has a range of 460 miles…It cruises at 115 miles per hour.”
