But, on the bright side, I remember reading an article a few years ago that was kinda like this. This girl from a poorer nation was burned when she was little, and the scar tissue was continually growing, filling in the area between her chin and chest, pulling her face down, it was just horrible. But through the grace of some people in America, she was given a series of treatments and surgeries, and in the end she looked really good, almost completely back to normal. So there is hope in situations like this, but only if they can get good hospital care and a generous benefactor.
That's just absolutely disgusting. Are these people fighting in the name of God?
Illithid has a point. Since it happened at such a young age, there is at least a small chance of recovery. If this was posted on CNN, then hopefully someone with money will take notice.
Edit: I saw the pictures. I have no words to describe my feelings. I don't think the English corpus has a word that accurately describes the level of horror, disgust, and rage that I feel.
That poor child... I really do hope someone with lots of money to donate reads that story, so that boy can have hope of a recovery...
And about that Texas story, about the immunization... I just wanna put my two cents in, since I've lived in Texas all my life and have grown up with the idea put in my mind that the death penalty isn't that bad. Yes, putting people to death is extremely harsh... but in most of the situations, the crimes they've committed make them completely deserving of the punishment. Some of the stories you hear are just sick! And I guess it's just from growing up in Texas... but I really do believe that there are circumstances where people should just be taken off the Earth, so that they can't have ANY opportunity to do such a thing again. I also realize that Texas has other things that most people view as appalling, but we all seem to think is perfectly logical... like the idea that if you tell someone to get off your property, and they don't, you have the right to shoot them.
(CNN) -- Many older Americans routinely engage in vaginal intercourse, oral sex and masturbation, a landmark study into a long-taboo subject reported Wednesday.
"From a societal perspective, I would say that old people are young people later in life," said Dr. Stacy Tesler Lindau, lead author of the federally funded study, which was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Sexual activity reported among the 3,005 men and women who participated in the survey did decrease with age, particularly among the oldest participants -- from 73 percent among those 57 to 64 years of age to 53 percent among those 65 to 74 years of age to 26 percent among those 75 to 85 years of age.
Discussion of the sex habits of American seniors has received little attention, even from scientists.
"Hopefully, this opens the door for conversation that might counter stereotypes," Lindau told reporters in a conference call. "If we regard older people as asexual, particularly as physicians, we really miss an opportunity to do important counseling and interventions for people who may benefit from them."
Among the survey's many discoveries was that about half of those 57 to 75 years of age who remained sexually active reported engaging in oral sex.
More than half of men and a quarter of women said they had masturbated during the previous year, a figure that remained constant whether they were sexually active or not.
The figure on masturbation "reflects a level of sexual need, even among men at very advanced ages, and speaks to the fact that sexuality is a lifelong proposition," said Edward O. Laumann, a study co-author and a sociologist at the University of Chicago.
But not for everybody. Thirty-five percent of women versus 13 percent of men rated sex as "not at all important."
That sentiment increased with age: 41 percent of the oldest age group said they felt that way, versus 25 percent of the middle group and 15 percent of the youngest group.
Across all age groups, women were less likely than men to report having engaged in sexual activity during the previous year. The disparity was attributed to the fact that women typically outlive men. Though 78 percent of men ages 75 to 85 had a spouse or other intimate relationship, the figure for women of the same age range was 40 percent.
Among those who said they were sexually active, about half of men and women reported at least one sexual problem that bothered them, including low desire (43 percent), difficulty with vaginal lubrication (39 percent) and inability to climax (34 percent).
The most common problem reported by men was difficulty gaining or maintaining an erection (37 percent).
About one in seven men (14 percent) said they were using drugs to improve their performance.
About one in four sexually active adults with a sexual problem said it led them to avoid sex.
Despite the high prevalence of sexual problems, few respondents -- 38 percent of men and 22 percent of women -- said they had discussed them with their doctors.
"Most felt sexuality is an important part of life, but feel physicians need to initiate discussion" about it, Lindau said.
Only a small minority -- 3.5 percent for men and 1.5 percent for women -- said they had had more than one sex partner during the previous year. Though the authors asked about prostitution, they said they had not yet reviewed those data.
Study author: 'Data are a gold mine'
The survey elicited an unusually high response rate of about 75 percent. Participants were paid $100 to submit to a two-hour interview and half-hour physical exam about a topic that has rarely been studied in detail, the authors said.
"These data are a gold mine," said co-author Linda Waite, a sociologist at the University of Chicago, and will be particularly useful to baby boomers about to become seniors.
But the study had limitations: Only sexually active individuals were asked about problems, meaning the findings likely underestimate the true incidence of sexual problems.
And much of the data were self-reported, meaning the results assume the subjects were truthful.
That may not always have been the case: The study found eight people who said their sex partner was of the same gender, a figure lower than commonly accepted estimates and one that Laumann acknowledged raises questions about the veracity of the respondents.
"I think you have to ask these questions, and I think they are very valid worries," Laumann said.
In an accompanying editorial, Dr. John H.J. Bancroft, the former director of the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction, noted the survey gave little attention to those who said they were sexually inactive.
"Unfortunately, the present study did not assess the proportion of respondents in a relationship who had become sexually inactive because of sexual problems, whether men or women had these sexual problems, and how the respondents felt about their relationship," he said.
Laumann responded that the survey was able to cover only so much material. "It's a question of what you can cover in the amount of time we had," he said.
The only thing that I found truly gross about the article was the naming of most common sexual problems in elders. The rest of it I just thought was funny.
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Few stories have touched CNN.com users like that of 5-year-old Youssif, an Iraqi boy who had gone out to play on a January day when he was suddenly grabbed by masked men, doused in gas and set on fire.
CNN.com users responded by the thousands to the story asking how they could help. But there were tricky and difficult issues the family had to suddenly confront, as several aid organizations quickly offered their services.
Specifically, the family had to make a decision on whether to leave their homeland or stay inside Iraq for treatment. If they chose to leave, could they get visas to travel to the United States or leave Iraq safely? Further complicating matters is the fact that few aid organizations remain in Iraq; most moved out months ago due to the constant threat of being targeted.
Leaving one's homeland is never an easy choice to make, even during war. But the family has decided Youssif should seek treatment in the United States.
The Children's Burn Foundation -- a non-profit organization based out of Sherman Oaks, California, that provides support for burn victims locally, nationally and internationally -- has agreed to pay for the transportation for Youssif and his family to come to the United States and to set up a fund so you can donate.
The foundation says it will cover all medical costs -- from surgeries for Youssif to housing costs to any social rehabilitation that might be needed for him. Surgeries will be performed by Dr. Peter Grossman, a plastic surgeon with the affiliated-Grossman Burn Center who is donating his services for Youssif's cause.
Officials are still trying to get the appropriate visas for his travels. Youssif could be in the United States for up to a year for the various treatments he needs.
You can make a donation at the foundation's site by clicking here. There's a drop down menu under the "general donation" area that is marked "Youssif's fund."
When informed of the news in Baghdad, Youssif ran around his house, saying, "Daddy, daddy, am I really going to get on a plane?!"
Youssif's father was also cheered by the news. "I feel like I am going to fly from happiness," his father told CNN's Arwa Damon, who reported the story on what happened to Youssif.
Barbara Friedman, executive director of the Children's Burn Foundation, said she and others at the foundation were deeply moved when they first read the piece.
"In terms of a personal reaction, the only thing I could say is it takes your breath away -- because it's just so unfathomable, that that kind of brutality and violence was undertaken in a premeditated way against a defenseless child," she told CNN.com.
"From the foundation's perspective, our immediate reaction was: Can we help? How can we help? We want to help. This is what we do."
Many of you had the same reaction. "This kind of thing breaks my heart," wrote CNN.com user Jessica Allen. "To see that smiling adorable face before that day that he was so brutally attacked is enough to make you cry. How could someone do this to anyone, let alone a child?"
Others pleaded for CNN to act. "CNN, if you put this on for us to read, then you should allow us to donate," wrote Brian Quinn.
The story -- published and broadcast on Wednesday -- has been one of the most-read, non-breaking news stories in CNN.com's 13-year history.
"We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support for Youssif and his family, and are grateful that the Children's Burn Foundation and the Grossman Burn Center have volunteered to help," said Mitch Gelman, CNN.com's senior vice president and senior executive producer.
"It is heart-warming and restorative to see such generosity and goodness emerging from this truly unspeakable horror."
Bill Nye, the harmless children's edu-tainer known as "The Science Guy," managed to offend a select group of adults in Waco, Texas at a presentation, when he suggested that the moon does not emit light, but instead reflects the light of the sun.
As even most elementary-school graduates know, the moon reflects the light of the sun but produces no light of its own.
But don't tell that to the good people of Waco, who were "visibly angered by what some perceived as irreverence," according to the Waco Tribune.
Nye was in town to participate in McLennan Community College's Distinguished Lecture Series. He gave two lectures on such unfunny and adult topics as global warming, Mars exploration, and energy consumption.
But nothing got people as riled as when he brought up Genesis 1:16, which reads: "God made two great lights -- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars."
The lesser light, he pointed out, is not a light at all, but only a reflector.
At this point, several people in the audience stormed out in fury. One woman yelled "We believe in God!" and left with three children, thus ensuring that people across America would read about the incident and conclude that Waco is as nutty as they'd always suspected.
This story originally appeared in the Waco Tribune, but the newspaper has mysteriously pulled its story from the online version, presumably to avoid further embarassment.
For daring to report illegal arms sales, Navy veteran Donald Vance says he was imprisoned by the American military in a security compound outside Baghdad and subjected to harsh interrogation methods.
"Ninjas — professional assassins trained in martial arts — date back to medieval Japan."...and before that, to China. I love when journalists to their research.
I wanna see the whole temple track down the guy who posted it and avenge their name.
Really, China is complaining about that? Maybe I should start saying slanderous things towards other countries fighting techniques and I will become famous.
Wait, Rick Roll? The guys at school were done with that a while ago.
Don't forget about Gem Sweater or Chocolate Rain. Then there were those GI JOEParodies. As an added bonus Leslie Hall who did that Gem Sweater song also has a song called "Zombie Killer" that's actually pretty good (didn't find any good videos for that one. Find it yourself.)
I'm not even going to try and find some of the other stuff from angry video game nerd things to old-school megaman style remixes of really annoying anime show intros.
Comments
But, on the bright side, I remember reading an article a few years ago that was kinda like this. This girl from a poorer nation was burned when she was little, and the scar tissue was continually growing, filling in the area between her chin and chest, pulling her face down, it was just horrible. But through the grace of some people in America, she was given a series of treatments and surgeries, and in the end she looked really good, almost completely back to normal. So there is hope in situations like this, but only if they can get good hospital care and a generous benefactor.
Illithid has a point. Since it happened at such a young age, there is at least a small chance of recovery. If this was posted on CNN, then hopefully someone with money will take notice.
Edit: I saw the pictures. I have no words to describe my feelings. I don't think the English corpus has a word that accurately describes the level of horror, disgust, and rage that I feel.
And about that Texas story, about the immunization... I just wanna put my two cents in, since I've lived in Texas all my life and have grown up with the idea put in my mind that the death penalty isn't that bad. Yes, putting people to death is extremely harsh... but in most of the situations, the crimes they've committed make them completely deserving of the punishment. Some of the stories you hear are just sick! And I guess it's just from growing up in Texas... but I really do believe that there are circumstances where people should just be taken off the Earth, so that they can't have ANY opportunity to do such a thing again. I also realize that Texas has other things that most people view as appalling, but we all seem to think is perfectly logical... like the idea that if you tell someone to get off your property, and they don't, you have the right to shoot them.
Good ol' Texas!
Beware.
Study: Seniors having more sex than you think.
Help is on the way for Youssif
That is one confused woman!
*waves hand*
Move along now.
<_<
>_>
Should we blame the government?
Or blame society?
Or should we blame the images on TV?
No, blame Canada!
With all their beady little eyes
And flapping heads so full of lies
It seems that everything's gone wrong
Since Canada came along
Blame Canada
They're not even a real country anyway!
I wanna see the whole temple track down the guy who posted it and avenge their name.
EDIT: That's actually pretty funny, though, since I've never seen it.
Don't forget about Gem Sweater or Chocolate Rain. Then there were those GI JOE Parodies. As an added bonus Leslie Hall who did that Gem Sweater song also has a song called "Zombie Killer" that's actually pretty good (didn't find any good videos for that one. Find it yourself.)
I'm not even going to try and find some of the other stuff from angry video game nerd things to old-school megaman style remixes of really annoying anime show intros.