President Obama has come forward to say he supports same sex marriage. Whats your say or take on this?

Brazil shelves plans to build new nuclear plants

BRASILIA (AFP) – Brazil said Wednesday it has shelved plans to build new nuclear power stations in the coming years in the wake of last year’s Fukushima disaster in Japan.
The previous government led by former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had planned to construct between four and eight new nuclear plants through 2030.
But the energy ministry’s executive secretary, Marcio Zimmermann, was quoted as telling a forum Tuesday that there was no need for new nuclear facilities for the next 10 years.
“The last plan, which runs through 2020, does not envisage any (new) nuclear power station because there is no need for it. Demand is met with hydro-electrical power and complementary energy sources such as wind, thermal and natural gas,” Zimmermann said in remarks released by the ministry Wednesday.
“The 2021 plan, as far as I know, will not consider nuclear power stations either, ” he added, although he did not rule out construction of such facilities in the longer term.
“After the (2011 Fukushima) accident in Japan, not just Brazil but the entire world stopped to analyze and assess,” Mauricio Tomalsquim, president of the EPE energy research firm, told the same event.
Tomalsquim said that in the next 10 years, the hydro-electrical contribution to Brazil’s energy mix will fall from the current 75 percent to 67 percent while that of renewable energy sources — wind, solar and biomass — will rise from eight to 16 percent.
Brazil’s sole nuclear power plant, located in Angra dos Reis, a coastal town near Rio, has two pressurized water reactors in operation, with outputs respectively of 657 MWe (megawatt electrical) and 1350 MWe.
After a 24-year dispute, work resumed last June on a third reactor at that facility with a projected output of 1245 MWe. It is expected to be completed in 2015.
The Angras do Reis plant currently generates around three percent of Brazil’s energy production, which relies overwhelmingly on hydroelectric installations.
Economic expansion, however, is outstripping supply, resulting in occasional blackouts across regions.
Greenpeace and other environmental lobby groups oppose broadening Brazil’s nuclear program, arguing that there is potential for widespread ecological damage in case of an accident.
Brazil, Latin America’s dominant power, and neighboring Argentina are the only South American countries operating civilian nuclear power stations.

Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men?

A: One important reason is the big delay — and advantage — women have over men in terms of cardiovascular disease, like heart attack and stroke. Women develop these problems usually in their 70s and 80s, about 10 years later than men, who develop them in their 50s and 60s. For a long time, doctors thought the difference was due to estrogen. But studies have shown that this may not be the case, and now we know that giving estrogen to women post-menopause can actually be bad for them.
One reason for that delay in onset of cardiovascular disease could be that women are relatively iron-deficient compared to men — especially younger women, those in their late teens and early 20s — because of menstruation. Iron plays a very important part in the reactions in our cells that produce damaging free radicals, which glom onto cell membranes and DNA, and may translate into aging the cell. In fact, in our diets, red meat is the main source of iron, and lack of iron is probably one major reason that being vegetarian is healthy for you. There was a very good study looking at the intake of red meat and heart disease in Leiden in the Netherlands: in regions where people didn't eat red meat, those populations had half the rate of heart attack and stroke compared to the populations that did eat red meat.
Another more complicated possibility [for women's longevity] is that women have two X chromosomes, while men have one. (Men have an X and a Y.) When cells go through aging and damage, they have a choice in terms of genes — either on one X chromosome or the other. Consider it this way: you have a population of cells, all aging together. In some cells, the genes on one X chromosome are active; in other cells, by chance, the same set of genes, with different variations, are active on the other X chromosome. Don't forget, we all have the same genes — the reason we differ is because we express different variations of those genes, like different colors of a car. Now, if one set of variations provides a survival advantage for the cells versus another, then the cells with the advantage will persist while the other ones will die off, leaving behind more cells with the genes on the more advantageous X chromosome. So, in women, cells can perhaps be protected by a slightly better variation of a gene on the second X chromosome. Men don't have this luxury and don't get this choice.
It's very unclear [how big an effect that could have]. I've seen men who have done horrendous damage to themselves over time with smoking and drinking and who still get to 100 and older — though that's very, very rare. They might have the right combination of some really special genetic variations that we call "longevity enabling genes" — which we're on the mad hunt for. Meanwhile other individuals may do everything right and only make it into their 80s. That may be because they have what we call "disease genes," some genetic variations that are relatively bad for them. Now some of these [disease genes] may be on the X chromosome, [meaning that women who have the second X chromosome with which to compensate, would have an advantage]. But it's really still a very complicated puzzle to tease out.
[There are a few other reasons that men die earlier in life more often than women.] Men in their late teens and 20s go through something called "testosterone storm." The levels of the hormone can be quite high and changeable, and that can induce some pretty dangerous behavior among young men. They don't wear their seatbelts; they drink too much alcohol; they can be aggressive with weapons and so on and so forth. These behaviors lead to a higher death rate.
Another area where we see higher death rates among men is among the depressed — especially older men. If they attempt suicide, they are more likely to succeed than women.
Overall, about 70% of the variation around average life expectancy — [just over 80 for women and just over 75 for men in the U.S.] — is probably attributable to environmental factors — your behaviors and your exposures. Probably only 30% is due to genetics. And that's very, very good news. There's so much we can do. Most of us should be able to get into our late 80s. What's more, to get to older ages, like the centenarians, you are necessarily compressing the time you're sick to the end of your life. It's not a case where the older you get, the sicker you get. It's very much the case that the older you get, the healthier you've been.
But, in general, there are maybe three things men do worse than women. They smoke a lot more. (That gender gap is fortunately shrinking, since men are smoking less and less.) They eat more food that leads to high cholesterol. And, perhaps related to that, men tend not to deal with their stress as well as women. They may be more prone to internalizing that stress rather than letting go — though that's a fairly controversial point. Nonetheless, stress plays a very important role in cardiovascular disease.

92% Of Women Masturbate; But How Often Do They Do It?

A new study reveals 92% of women regularly take time out to masturbate, a huge jump from the findings of previous studies (74% in 1979 and 62% in 1953).
The Gossard Big M Survey interviewed 1,000 women, ages 18-30, and their answers indicate that not only do 9 out of 10 women play with themselves, two-thirds do it three times a week. The study refers to these as "sessions," which we can assume doesn't refer to the number of orgasms achieved, but rather, the time spent achieving them. 'Cause you know that if you have one, you stick around for more. Orgasms from masturbating are like Payless shoes: Once you get the first pair, you get the second for next to nothing.
Going just from the published findings of this survey, it's impossible to determine, on average, what percentage of the week is spent flying solo. So maybe we can make this a group effort? I'll start off:
- I masturbate, on average, 5 days a week.
- Each "session" lasts for about 12 minutes, with a minimum of 3 orgasms a session, and a max of 13. (I don't know if these means I'm really good at it, or really bad.)
- I sleep, on average, about 6 hours a night, so I'm deducting that from my "week."
Variables:
- I work from home, so I have more opportunities to masturbate on a whim than most women.
- I use a Hitachi Magic Wand, which is indeed magical, so the act is easier. However, I also make up for time saved by being greedy with as many orgasms as possible.
So, if my math is correct, then:
7,080 minutes of my week, I am awake.
60 minutes are spent masturbating.
Which means:
.84% of my week is spent masturbating.
But also, of the days I masturbate:
1,080 minutes of my day are spent awake.
12 minutes are spent masturbating.
Which means:
1.1% of my day is spent masturbating.
Feel free to leave your results in the comments.

Subsidy: Govs turned against me – Jonathan

PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has claimed that some governors turned against him after agreeing with him to remove fuel subsidy.

The removal of the subsidy on January 1 and the resultant increase in fuel pump price from N65 to N141 led to a nationwide strike and demonstrations across the country.

Jonathan at a workshop in Abuja on Monday, asked the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission to sensitise Nigerians to the planned increase in electricity tariff from June 1. He said he would not want a repeat of the subsidy removal episode.

Jonathan said, “I think the Governor  of Benue State then suggested that no, that there could be conflicts in some states and that governors should be allowed to take charge.

“At the end of the day, by the day we announced the deregulation, almost everything was on my head. Everything was Jonathan to the extent that the House of Representatives had to meet on a Sunday to discuss it and it became an issue.

“At a point, some of the governors (I will not call the names) who participated in pressurising me, started shooting back.”

He recalled that he initially planned to send delegations to the states to sensitise people ahead of the subsidy removal but he was advised against it based on the argument that such a body would work in parallel with the states.

He therefore advised the NERC to properly sensitise the public ahead of the hike in electricity tariff increase.

The President said “But I said even if they will cut off my head, it is my responsibility. What I am saying is that if you don’t have robust advocacy, by the time we get to that June 1, the civil society will come and say they have never heard it.”

He regretted that when the civil society kicked against the subsidy removal, even governors who were instrumental in the decision  turned against him.

He warned that if enough advocacy work was not done on the planned increase in electricity tariff, members of the civil society would return to the trenches and oppose the move as they did against subsidy removal.

He said, “On the issue of tariff, I think we agreed on June 1 but I am not sure that we are having robust advocacy.”

Yeah You Did: Converse All Star Tattooed On Foot!

There are many of us out there who like tattoos and the legendary Converse All Star…but from this to having the popular Chuck Taylor model tattooed on your foot, requires a lot of guts…or a massive drinking spree. The guy from the photo must have particularly liked the red version of the canvas shoe, now a leather shoe, but what I’m not quite understanding why the sole is not included? What I’m guessing is that the numbing booze effect was waning and the pain kicking in…and the foot is a very painful spot to have tattooed…. or he was out of money. And what about the left foot?

13 Things Women Will Never Understand About Men!

While it may seem just about every man problem can be solved by the trifecta of sports, sex, and food, this truth does little to explain these top 13 man habits.
Men, we’re begging. Please help us understand.
Your need to fix everything
When we cried because our boss was a jerk, we didn’t expect you to come up with a plan to get him fired. Why can’t you just let us be sad and pretend to listen?
Oblivious to a single detail
Your best friend called to tell you he had a baby. You don’t know the baby’s name, or even the baby’s gender. You do however know that we’re out of beer.
Sleeping through a crying baby
We know you’re not really sleeping. Oh yes, we know. We’re also keeping score.
The combover
The combover has never once fooled anyone into thinking you have hair. Never once.
Booby Kryptonite
They’re just boobs; breathe. You know who else has boobs? Your mom.
Not knowing when something’s wrong
When we say “nothing” is wrong, it means everything is so completely wrong that we don’t even have enough hours in this lifetime to adequately express how wrong everything is.
Thinking we know where your stuff is
Why would we know where your jockstrap is? We didn’t use it last.
Sex as a cure-all
You just lost your job and then learned your mom is sick in the hospital. Who’s up for sex?
Your mother is a saint
Except she’s not. Not even close. A saint might have taught you to put the lid down.
Your definition of babysitting
Watching your neighbor’s kid is called babysitting. Watching your own kid is called parenting. The more you know.
Scratching in public
You call it “adjusting”. We call it disgusting.
Dirty clothes outside the hamper
We find dirty clothes next to the hamper, semi-near the hamper, but rarely inside the hamper.
Snoring
Grizzly Adams, for the love of all things holy, what the hell is up with your snoring?