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Tuesday, February 17, 2009
White alligator is one of rarest in world - Telegraph
White alligator is one of rarest in world - Telegraph
White alligator: Out of the 5 million american alligator population there are thought to be only 12 leucistic gators Photo: BARCROFTWith its piercing blue eyes and pale skin this rare Alligator stands out like a sore thumb.
Weighing over 500 pounds, 22 year old male Bouya Blan is one of only 12 white alligators in the world.
The 500lb, 22-year-old male alligator, Bouya Blan, whose name means white fog, is kept at the Gatorland theme park in Florida.
He is one of four giant leucistic alligators kept at the park.
"People are awestruck when they see them, and just one look into those icy, blue eyes will give you chills," says Mark McHugh, President & CEO of Gatorland.
"We're excited to bring these thrilling animals to Florida."
Collected from deep in a Louisiana swamp, the ivory reptiles were part of a clutch of seventeen infants recovered by workers from the Louisiana Land and Exploration Company while surveying the area in 1986.
The group later brought the hatchlings to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans where only a few of the rare reptiles survived, before they were brought to Gatorland last year.
"This is the largest group of giant white gators in the world," says Tim Williams of Gatorland.
"These are not albino animals, they are what we call leucistic, which means they have a little bit of pigmentation around the mouth and a little touch on the tail and they have piercing blue eyes."
Leucistic animals have rare genetic condition that reduces the colour pigmentation in their skin.
Out of the 5 million american alligator population there are thought to be only 12 leucistic gators.
"They are just like alligators and they eat the same food," explains Mr Williams.
"The biggest concern is that they never would have survived in the wild. They are like little beacons out shining "come eat me".
"They are each ten to eleven plus feet in length and vulnerable to many predators because their lack of skin pigmentation deprives them of natural camouflage."
Due to their condition, the alligators are housed in special enclosures to protect them from sunlight - and the unwanted attention of other males.
"We have four white alligators here at Gatorland and because they are all males they cannot be in the same enclosure as they are all very big and they would all fight with each other," says Mr Williams.
"They are also very sensitive to direct sunlight, so we have to keep them in an environment where they get a tiny bit of sunlight during the day.
"They need to have a bit of Vitamin D but that is supplemented in their diet where we feed them chicken, fish, red meat and vitamin supplements.
"They each have their own pool and a haul out area and wooden decking they crawl out and bask in the heat."
Tim and his team are now hoping to breed white alligators with two female American gators who carry the leucistic gene.
"We also have two normal females who carry the gene for the leusitic offspring," says Mr Williams.
"Our hope is that with some candle light, soft music and maybe a little wine we are hoping to breed some leusitic gators in the near future," says Mr Williams.
Toxel.com » Transparent Gadgets and Creative Designs
Toxel.com » Transparent Gadgets and Creative DesignsTransparent Canoe
This hard shell transparent canoe provides 100% visability. It weighs only 40 lbs and is lighter than most aluminum or wood canoes. [link]
Transparent Xbox 360 Case
Swap that eyesore Xbox 360 white case for a Clear Ghost Case. This is the only case in the world that comes with a clear DVD drive lid, which actually lets you see the DVD game disc spinning while you play. [link]
Transparent PSTwo Slim Case [link]
Transparent Iron
The transparent B-IRON 725 iron allows you to see the clothes that you are ironing. The soleplate is made out of tempered glass and heat conduction works via a network of electro-thermal wires. [link]
Transparent Toaster
Creative concept design of a transparent toaster lets you see the bread while it is toasting. [link]
Transparent Chess Set
A Chess Set inspired by the novel ‘Alice through the Looking Glass’ where the pieces magically turn transparent when they touch the board. [link]
Transparent Concrete
Translucent concrete blocks - the future of architecture? [link]
Transparent Dice [link]
Transparent Bath
The transparent bath displays the number of drinkable water bottles you are using when taking a bath. It is just a concept right now, but a sobering idea none the less. [link]
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The most academic joke I have ever been forwarded!<br/> - By Gautam Chandna
Once all the scientists die and go to heaven. They decide to play hide-n-seek.Unfortunately Einstein is has to seek and is supposed to count upto 100 and then start searching.The most academic joke I have ever been forwarded!
Everyone starts hiding except Newton - he just draws a square of 1 meter and stands in it rite in front of Einstein.
Einstein keeps counting......97,98,99.....100........
He opens his eyes and finds Newton standing in front.
Einstein says "newton's out..newton's....out....." Newton denies and says i am not out. He claims that he is not Newton!!
All the scientists come out and he proves tht he is not newton..........
how???????
- By Gautam Chandna
ROGUE AND "SKIN HUNGER"
> What do you mean by skin hunger?
Skin hunger is a documented physiological condition recognized by medical and psychiatric organizations. I don't recall the formal Latin name.
Essentially it's the adult version of failure-to-thrive syndrome. Early in this century, social workers at city orphanages discovered that babies who received no physical contact -- cuddling, rocking, kisses, tickling -- beyond the bare minimum of daily maintenance became withdrawn, sickly, and finally died. The conclusion seemed to be that human beings require a certain level of daily skin-to-skin contact in order to survive.
Skin hunger is the condition that applies to later life. Older children and adults may have received adequate contact as babies but, for various reasons, no longer receive that same level of touch. They become isolated and defensive, suffer intense feelings of loneliness, and may develop a number of neuroses and personality disorders such as schizophrenia or multiple personality disorders (Remind you of someone?) They're also hypersensitive to temperature changes because their blood circulation deteriorates; also, loss of tactile sensitivity is common.
In sedentary subjects, skin hunger also causes muscle damage, particularly in the shoulders and back, in theory because the subjects are always tensed in order to ward off either a harmful touch or rejection of their need. Physically active subjects seem to suffer less of this, simply because a regular exercise routine keeps the muscles from becoming atrophied and teaches them how to work off the emotional stress locked in their bodies.
Skin hunger is very common in victims of physical and sexual abuse -- for obvious reasons, I should think. The most effective therapy so far is a regular schedule of full-body massage by a monitored, licensed masseur in addition to mental health counseling. Therapists usually have to prove their trustworthiness before any progess is made; trust is a BIG issue with skin hunger patients.
The condition also occurs in people who have suffered a major accident or contracted a communicable disease that requires quarantine. Ever been in a full body cast and felt like nobody loves you? Social isolation can also trigger it. If you've broken up with your loved one and withdrawn from the world, and suddenly you feel as if there's this aching void between your empty arms, you're experiencing rudimentary skin hunger.
Written by Dawn Lee
Body Wallpaper Art - 10 photos (NSFW) - My Modern Metropolis
Body Wallpaper Art - 10 photos (NSFW) - My Modern MetropolisIt's pretty cool how wallpaper backgrounds really add to the visual effect of body art; it almost looks 3D. Here are ten fun photos to brighten your day..
15 Ways To Help You To Stop Worrying | Health Money Success
15 Ways To Help You To Stop Worrying | Health Money SuccessHow To Stop Worrying
In this time of recession, I believe worrying has become a more frequent activity for most of the people. Everyone is thinking about how the recession is going to affect them and questions start to pop out in their mind thinking will they lose their job or will their investments depreciate to worthless assets.
With so much worries going on in their head, people may be prone to mood swings, suffer a loss in productivity or from deteriorating health. All these worries will cause everything in their life to take a tumble because their energy are focused on the wrong channels.
15 Ways To Help You To Stop Worrying
1. Live in the present
Problems start to appear when you live in the future or the past. When you keep living in your mistakes or spend too much time thinking about what will happen next (living in the future), you are allowing negative thoughts to occupy your mind and what you focus on will expand.
Whenever you find yourself worrying about things not in the present, bring yourself back to the present and ask yourself what you can do best at the present moment about the problem and take action now. Once you did what you can do best for today, that will be enough.
2. Keep a Diary
Too many worries occupying your thoughts? Write it down in a diary, close the book and keep it locked in a cupboard. It can be interesting when you go back to the diary at a later date only to find those worries are not really significant and most have not taken place.
3. Talk To a Friend
There is nothing better than talking to a friend when you have too many worries on your mind. They may or may not give you any advice but the important thing is to get things off your mind and it will be great if they are there to listen to you. After an hour or 2 of chatting, you will end up going off as a happier person.
4. Eliminate “What ifs”
Are you constantly thinking about “what ifs”? If you keep thinking about what if this happen or that happen, chances are you are worrying too much on things that may not happen. Let me ask you a question, what if what you are thinking is not going to happen? Are you still going to spend your time thinking about “what ifs”?
5. Accept Uncertainty
People who worry too much have a need to be certain about anything. The only thing certain in the world is uncertainty, which another word for it is change. In order to stop worrying, you need to know that uncertainty is the only certain thing in the world and worrying about uncertainty is just wasting our energy. Be like surfers, do not go against the waves(uncertainty), ride with it.
6. Postpone Worrying
Worrying is a task and which you can postpone instead of dealing with it immediately when it pops up in your mind. Set a worry period for yourself (e.g. An hour for a week on every Friday) and whenever you have any worrying thoughts in the day, postpone it to the date you had allocated for worrying. Sometimes you may even forget about what you were worried about when it is time to think about your worries.
7. Meditation
Meditation is believed to help reduce excess worrying. Meditation works with you focusing on your breathing and thinking about nothing else and this action help to bring you back to the present and help to eliminate worrying thoughts.
8. Progressive Muscle Relaxation
By performing progressive muscle relaxation, it helps to release muscle tension and help you to achieve a state of relaxation which will help you relax your mind too.
9. Exercising
Exercising is a great way to relieve stress, boost your physical and mental energy. It also help to release endorphins, a feel good chemical. It is also hard for you to be worried when you are tired and all you want is a good night sleep.
10. 4 Step Rule
This is a powerful technique that can help you to eliminate your worries.
1. What are you worrying about?
2. What is the worst that can happen?
3. Accept the worst.
4. Improve on what is the worst.11. Healthy Diet
By having a healthy diet filled with complex carbohydrates such as whole grains and vegetables will help to boost serotonin which is a neurotransmitter with calming effects.
12. Keep Yourself Busy
When you are busy taking action and doing things, your mind will focus on the task at hand and crowd out your worries. If you find yourself worrying too much, take up lessons and learn new skills, take up a part time job or participate in community events. Just keep yourself busy and you will not have any time for worrying.
13. Law Of Averages
Have you ever been worried about the ferries sinking or a flood destroying your warehouses and such? Whenever you catch yourself worrying, the first thing is to apply the Law of Averages. How frequent will such an event happen, if it is rarely, then most probably you shouldn’t be worried about it anymore.
14. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff
Have you ever been worried about the little things in life such as the weather or the queue? If you were put through a major adversity that endangers your life, will the weather or the long queue still matters to you? Life is too short to be worried about the little things.
15. Do Not Smoke Or Drink Alcohol
In the movies, whenever the characters were depressed, they will be either shown smoking or drinking. Smoking and drinking may be a short term solution to help you deal with your worries but it is never wise to resort to them. Once the effects wear off, you may end up with a hole in a pocket and an addiction to it. This in turn piles up on your worries.
Parting Words
Life is short and worrying isn’t the best way to use our time. Before I go, I will share with you a quote by Michel De Montaigne which I believe will help people who are worrying too much in life.
My life has been full of terrible misfortunes most of which never happened
Michel de MontaigneVincent
Personal Development BloggerIf you like this article, it will be great if you can digg, stumble or bookmark it in de.li.cious. Remember to subscribe to my blog via Email updates or RSS feed so that you won’t miss out on my upcoming articles. (It is free!)
The Associated Press: Trump casinos file for bankruptcy a third time
The Associated Press: Trump casinos file for bankruptcy a third timeTrump casinos file for bankruptcy a third time
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The three Atlantic City casinos once run by Donald Trump filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Tuesday — for the third time.
Trump Entertainment Resorts made the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Camden, N.J., four days after the real estate mogul whose name remains on the company and its three seaside gambling resorts resigned as chairman of its board.
Trump was frustrated that bond holders and their allies on the board rebuffed his offer to buy the company and take it private.
"Other than the fact that it has my name on it — which I'm not thrilled about — I have nothing to do with the company," Trump told The Associated Press Tuesday.
He acknowledged being sad over the end of a venture that was so publicly and relentlessly associated with his name and image. Yet he said the company "represents substantially less than 1 percent of my net worth, and has for some time."
"If I can't manage something, it's not for me," said Trump, who still holds 28 percent of the company's stock.
The company has $2.06 billion in assets and more than $1.74 billion in liabilities, according to its court filing.
All three of the company's casinos will continue to operate as usual during the bankruptcy proceedings.
Filing three times for Chapter 11 protection is uncommon in American business, according to Harlan Platt, a professor and bankruptcy expert at Northeastern University in Boston, who has followed Trump's casino bankruptcies for decades.
"Chapter 33! Wow! That's rare," he quipped.
"Mr. Trump has a way of doing business which was perfectly aligned with American capitalism over the last 20 years, but will probably be misaligned in the future," Platt said. "He has lots of leverage and a tendency to make very bold bets, " Platt said.
At least 10 other companies — including an airline, steel makers and several retailers — have filed for bankruptcy three times, according to an Associated Press review.
The casino company's current incarnation, Trump Entertainment Resorts, was born of a prior trip through bankruptcy that ended in 2005.
Debt that was still left over from that restructuring was exacerbated by the economic meltdown and competition from slots parlors in Pennsylvania and New York that have been hammering Atlantic City for more than two years.
"It was the only option left to us," said Mark Juliano, the company's CEO. "We will work to get it restructured and come out of this with an appropriate amount of leverage."
Top creditors listed in the filing include U.S. Bank, the trustee for bondholders who are owed $1.3 billion; Bovis Lend Lease of Princeton, N.J., which managed construction of the $255 million Chairman Tower, which opened last fall at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, owed $7.4 million; Thermal Energy Ltd. I, a subsidiary of Pepco Energy Services that designed and operates heating and cooling systems at the Taj Mahal, owed $1.8 million, and the Hess Corp., owed $1.3 million.
Other claimants include insurers, slot machine manufacturers, a food service company, a linen supplier, a limousine company and a billboard company.
Trump Entertainment's three casinos are the Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino, and Trump Marina Hotel Casino, which is to be sold this spring to a company led by Richard Fields, a former protege of Donald Trump. Juliano said the bankruptcy filing will have no effect on the Trump Marina sale.
In the meantime, Juliano stressed that all three Trump casinos will be open for business as usual, and customer loyalty programs will remain in effect.
"This is a restructuring, not a liquidation," he said. "Vendors and employees will be paid, customers will have winning bets paid."
He said the company is not seeking debtor-in-possession financing, and has enough cash on hand to fund its current operations.
The company skipped a biannual $53.1 million debt payment that was due last Dec. 1 and started negotiating with its bond holders on a refinancing of $1.25 billion in debt. Those talks were extended four times before they ended with Tuesday's bankruptcy filing.
Trump acknowledged the company has limited rights to use his name but hinted he may seek legal action to force them to stop using it.
His daughter, Ivanka, whose image has been increasingly used to market the casinos, also resigned from the board last Friday.
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