Top 10 Incredibly Unusual Recipes

Granted, many of these recipes are not seen as “unusual” in their home towns, but to the average Westerner, there is something awful about each and every one. Having said that, who are we to judge without trying? I just don’t want to go first! If you have had experience eating any of these dishes, please tell us about it in the comments.

10. Caterpillar Pretzels
Mexico

Caterpillars of skipper butterflies, which live on the maguey cactus, are toasted or fried and eaten with mescal. Since the maguey is the source of pulque and tequila, ‘caterpillar pretzels’ are a favorite in Mexico, even available canned.

9. Bee Larvae In Coconut Cream
Indonesia

Marinate larvae, sliced onions and lime leaves in coconut cream with some pepper. Wrap in pieces of linen and steam; serve over rice.


8. Red Ant Chutney
India

Collect ants in leaf cups, put directly into the hot ashes of a fire for just a few minutes. Remove ants and make into a paste. Add salt and ground chili, then bake. This chutney is said to have ‘a sharp, clean taste’ and is eaten with cocktails and curries.


7. Stuffed Pig Rectum Sausage
France

Soak a calf’s mesentary with the udder of a young beef in cold water, blanch for 30 minutes in boiling water. Dry and cut into small pieces. Saute a generous amount of chopped mushrooms and some chopped parsley and shallots. Add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and a glass of white wine. Remove from heat, and thicken with five egg yolks. Stir in the meat and stuff the mixture into the pig rectum. Tie off both ends, poach sausage for 45 minutes in stock mixed with white wine. Allow to cool in pot.


6. Fish Sperm Crepes
France

Spread unsweetened crepes with a mixture of chopped fish sperm and mushrooms bound with fish-based béchamel sauce. Roll crepes and set in a buttered dish, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and melted butter; heat dish in a 350 degree oven until top browns.


5.Stuffed Dormice
Ancient Rome

Prepare a stuffing of dormouse meat or pork, pepper and pine nuts, a tasty broth, asafetida (a spice still commonly used in Indian cooking), and some garum. Stuff the dormice and sew them up. Bake in oven on a tile.


4.Uterus Sausage
Ancient Rome

Stuff a pig uterus with cumin, leeks, pepper, garum (fish sauce), pounded pork meat and pine nuts. Cook sausage in water and oil with some garum, dill and leeks.


3. Stir-Fried Heart
China

Trim beef or pork heart, cut into one-eighth inches. Julienne. Marinate with sections of scallions in a mix of cornstarch, water, soy sauce, sherry, sugar, salt and minced ginger. Drain vegetables and stir fry medium hot. Pork heart must be thoroughly cooked.


2.Stuffed Kid
Saudi Arabia

This popular dish is not only a temptation for frustrated parents. Rub a skinned, eviscerated kid inside and out with: chopped nuts, parsley or coriander, chopped fresh ginger, salt and pepper. Stuff the kid with cooked rice, mixed nuts, sultana raisins or seedless grapes, plus residue of kid rubbing mix. Sew up opening, paint with melted butter, roast on a spit over charcoal (or in a 270-300 degree oven) until brown and tender. Serve on a mound of the stuffing. Guests sit on the floor and dig in.


1.Brain Tacos
Italy

Put olive oil in earthenware casserole. Add halved, parboiled, lambs’ brains, turn over and coat with oil, add salt and pepper, capers, crushed garlic, pitted ripe olives and bread crumbs. Bake in 400 degree oven for 10-15 minutes. Brain Casserole - Algeria - is an alternative. In Turkey, Brain Salad is commonly eaten.
Source from listverse.com

Top 10 Ways Your Resume Irks Hiring Managers

Fashion designer Coco Chanel had a personal rule: Before she left the house, the style icon always removed one piece of her ensemble to avoid the faux-pas of wearing too many accessories. Were Chanel alive today and working as a hiring manager, she would likely offer similar advice to job seekers: You don’t have to include everything.
Job seekers do themselves a disservice when they send out resumes with more information than they need. Most employers don’t have the time or patience to sift through the irrelevant details. Here are 10 things your resume could do without:


1. Spelling mistakes and grammatical errors. “If you are careless enough to send out this most important document with a mistake … I immediately assume you’ll never care enough about the work you send out representing my company,” says Jose Bandujo, president of New York-based Bandujo Advertising. He recalls one candidate who misspelled Manhattan, despite having worked in the city for a decade and another whose great educational background didn’t compensate for the fact that he couldn’t spell “education.”


2. Opening objectives. “These are generic … They do nothing to differentiate one candidate from another,” says Donna Flagg, president of The Krysalis Group, a human resource and management consulting firm in New York.


3. Personal attributes. Listing personal information such as height, weight and age and providing photographs is a pet peeve for Heather Mayfield, vice president of training and operations for Snelling Staffing Services. “It is amazing that we still see this on the resumes of today, but they are out there.”


4. Interests and hobbies. If these points of information don’t pertain to the job in question, there’s no need to include them. “Create a mystery and save these kinds of data points when you start the job,” advises Roy Blitzer, author of ‘Hire Me, Inc.: Resumes and Cover Letters that Get Results.’


5. Details of every task you’ve ever performed in every job you’ve ever had. “It’s too much information. Managers and recruiters need to know at-a-glance what makes a candidate special,” Flagg says. Focus on those details that pertain to the job for which you’re applying.


6. Excessive bragging. Stating one’s accomplishments can be helpful, but when it’s overdone, the candidate can come across as narcissistic, a huge turnoff for employers, Flagg says.


7. Outdated information. Leave off the activities that you did in high school if graduation was a few years ago and omit jobs you held 10 or more years ago, as the information is probably irrelevant to the position you’re trying for now.


8. False information. “Putting that you have a B.S. on a resume when you do not have one is BS,’” jokes Stephen Viscusi, author of ‘On the Job: How to Make it in the Real World of Work.” Not only is lying on a resume unfair and dishonest, it’s also not very intelligent. “Companies verify dates of employment — often after you start. If you have lied, they fire you…Nobody wants to hire a liar. Nobody.”


9. Unexplained gaps in work history. While job seekers should account for these gaps, they should be careful with their wording. “One of the weirdest things that I ever saw on a resume … was a candidate who explained a 10-year lapse in work experience as being in jail during those years for killing her husband,” recalls Linda Goodspeed, marketing recruiting manager at VistaPrint. In such a situation, she says, the best thing to write would be “left work for personal reasons,” and the candidate would be able to explain the criminal record later.

10. A lack of professionalism. Colored paper, cutesy fonts, links to personal web sites and childish e-mail addresses all scream unprofessional and are a turn off to hiring managers. One otherwise qualified applicant didn’t get an interview at Bandujo’s firm solely because of the name in her email address: “weird2themax.” “I recognize the advertising industry is full of talented, interesting ‘characters’,” Bandujo says, “but did I really want one who thought she was weird to the max?” No, he decided, he did not.

Copyright 2007 CareerBuilder.com.

Top 10 Amazing Prison Escapes

As long as we have had prisons, we have had prison escapes. This is a list of the 10 most daring and amazing escapes from prison in history.


10. Maze Prison Escape

In the biggest prison escape in British history, on 25 September 1983 in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, 38 Irish Republican Army (IRA) prisoners, who had been convicted of offenses including murder and causing explosions, escaped from H-Block 7 (H7) of the prison. One prison officer died of a heart attack as a result of the escape and twenty others were injured, including two who were shot with guns that had been smuggled into the prison. HM Prison Maze was considered one of the most escape-proof prisons in Europe. In addition to 15-foot fences, each H-Block was encompassed by an 18-foot concrete wall topped with barbed wire, and all gates on the complex were made of solid steel and electronically operated.

Shortly after 2:30, the prisoners took control of the H-block holding the prison guards hostage at gunpoint. Some of the prisoners took the guards clothing and car keys in order to help with their escape. At 3:25, a truck bringing food supplies arrived and the prisoners told the driver that he was going to help them escape. They tied his foot to the clutch and told him where to drive. At 3:50 the truck left the H-block, and soon after the prison, carrying all 38 men.

Over the next few days, 19 escapees were caught. The remaining escapees were assisted by the IRA in finding hiding places. Some of the group ended up in the USA but were later found and extradited. Due to politics in Northern Ireland, none of the remaining escapees are being actively sought and some have been given amnesties. Note the wires strung across the yard in the picture above - this is to prevent helicopters from landing due to another escape attempt at Maze Prison.


9. Alfred Hinds

“Alfie” Hinds was a British criminal and escape artist who, while serving a 12 year prison sentence for robbery, successfully broke out of three high security prisons. Despite the dismissal of thirteen of his appeals to higher courts, he was eventually able to gain a pardon using his knowledge of the British legal system. After being sentenced to 12 years in prison for a jewelry robbery, Hinds escaped from Nottingham prison by sneaking through the locked doors and over a 20-foot prison wall for which he became known in the press as “Houdini” Hinds.

After 6 months he was found and arrested. After his arrest, Hinds brought a lawsuit against authorities charging the prison commissioners with illegal arrest and successfully used the incident as a means to plan his next escape by having a padlock smuggled in to him while at the Law Courts. Two guards escorted him to the toilet, but when they removed his handcuffs Alfie bundled the men into the cubicle and snapped the padlock onto screw eyes that his accomplices had earlier fixed to the door. He escaped into the crowd on Fleet Street but was captured at an airport five hours later. Hinds would make his third escape from Chelmsford Prison less than a year later.

While eluding Scotland Yard, Hinds continued to plead his innocence sending memorandums to British MPs and granting interviews and taped recordings to the press. He would continue to appeal his arrest and, following a technicality in which prison escapes are not listed as misdemeanors within British law, his final appeal before the House of Lords in 1960 was denied after a three hour argument by Hinds before his return to serve 6 years in Parkhurst Prison. Pictured above is Nottingham Prison - the first prison that Hinds escaped from.


8. The Texas Seven


The Texas 7 was a group of prisoners who escaped from the John Connally Unit near Kenedy, Texas on December 13, 2000. They were apprehended January 21-23, 2001 as a direct result of the television show America’s Most Wanted. On December 13, 2000, the seven carried out an elaborate scheme and escaped from the John B. Connally Unit, a maximum-security state prison near the South Texas town of Kenedy. Using several well-planned ploys, the seven convicts overpowered and restrained nine civilian maintenance supervisors, four correctional officers and three uninvolved inmates at approximately 11:20 a.m.

The escape occurred during the slowest period of the day when there would be less surveillance of certain locations like the maintenance area — during lunch and at count time. Most of these plans involved one of the offenders calling someone over, while another hit the unsuspecting person on the head from behind. Once the victim was subdued, the offenders would remove some of his clothing, tie him up, gag him and place him in an electrical room behind a locked door. Eleven prison workers and three uninvolved inmates were bound and gagged. The attackers stole clothing, credit cards, and identification from their victims.

The group also impersonated prison officers on the phone and created false stories to ward off suspicion from authorities. They eventually made their way to the prison maintenance pickup-truck which they used to escape from the prison grounds. The remaining 5 living members of the group are all on death row awaiting death by lethal injection. Of the other two, one committed suicide and one has already been executed.


7. Alfréd Wetzler

Wetzler was a Slovak Jew, and one of a very small number of Jews known to have escaped from the Auschwitz death camp during the Holocaust. Wetzler is known for the report that he and his fellow escapee, Rudolf Vrba, compiled about the inner workings of the Auschwitz camp - a ground plan of the camp, construction details of the gas chambers, crematoriums and, most convincingly, a label from a canister of Zyklon gas. The 32-page Vrba-Wetzler report, as it became known, was the first detailed report about Auschwitz to reach the West that the Allies regarded as credible.

The evidence eventually led to the bombing of several government buildings in Hungary, killing Nazi officials who were instrumental in the railway deportations of Jews to Auschwitz. The deportations halted, saving up to 120,000 Hungarian Jews. Wetzler escaped with a fellow Jew named Rudolf Vrba. With the help of the camp underground, at 2 p.m. on Friday, April 7, 1944 — the eve of Passover — the two men climbed inside a hollowed-out hiding place in a wood pile that was being stored to build the “Mexico” section for the new arrivals. It was outside Birkenau’s barbed-wire inner perimeter, but inside an external perimeter the guards kept erected during the day. The other prisoners placed boards around the hollowed-out area to hide the men, then sprinkled the area with pungent Russian tobacco soaked in gasoline to fool the guards’ dogs. The two remained in hiding for 4 nights - to avoid recapture.

On April 10, wearing Dutch suits, overcoats, and boots they had taken from the camp, they made their way south, walking parallel to the Soła river, heading for the Polish border with Slovakia 80 miles (133 km.) away, guiding themselves using a page from a child’s atlas that Vrba had found in the warehouse.

6. Sławomir Rawicz

Rawicz was a Polish soldier who was arrested by Soviet occupation troops after the German-Soviet invasion of Poland. When the Soviet Union and Germany took over Poland, Rawicz returned to Pińsk where NKVD arrested him on November 19, 1939. He was taken to Moscow. He was first sent to Kharkov for interrogation, and then after trial he was sent to the Lubyanka prison in Moscow. He claims to have successfully resisted all attempts to torture a confession out of him in prison. He was sentenced, ostensibly for spying, to 25 years of hard labor in a Siberian prison camp. He was transported, alongside thousands of others, to Irkutsk and made to walk to Camp 303, 650 km south of the Arctic Circle, to build the camp from the ground up.

On 9 April 1941, Rawicz claimed that he and his six allies escaped in a middle of a blizzard. They rushed to the south, avoiding towns in fear they would be betrayed, but apparently they were not actively pursued. They also met an additional fugitive, Polish woman Krystyna. Nine days later they crossed the Lena River. They walked around Lake Baikal and crossed to Mongolia. Fortunately, people they encountered were friendly and hospitable. During the crossing of the Gobi desert, two of the group (Krystyna and Makowski) died. Others had to eat snakes to survive. Around October 1941 they claim to have reached Tibet. Locals were friendly, especially when men said they were trying to reach Lhasa. They crossed the Himalayas somehow in the middle of winter. Another of the group died in his sleep in the cold and one fell into a crevasse and disappeared. Rawicz claims the survivors reached India around March 1942.


5. Escape From Alcatraz

In its 29 years of operation, there were 14 attempts to escape from Alcatraz prison involving 34 inmates. Officially, every escape attempt failed, and most participants were either killed or quickly re-captured. However, the participants in the 1937 and 1962 attempts, though presumed dead, disappeared without a trace, giving rise to popular theories that they were successful. The most famous and intricate attempt to escape from Alcatraz (June 11, 1962) saw Frank Morris, and the Anglin brothers burrow out of their cells, climb to the top of the cell block, cut through bars to make it to the roof via an air vent. From there they climbed down a drain pipe, over a chain link fence and then to the shore where they assembled a pontoon-type raft and then vanished.

The trio are believed to have drowned in the San Francisco Bay and are officially listed as missing and presumed drowned. However, they may have made it and gone to a place where people did not know them.


4. Libby Prison Escape

The Libby Prison Escape was one of the most famous (and successful) prison breaks during the American Civil War. Overnight between February 9 and 10, 1864, more than 100 imprisoned Union soldiers broke out of their prisoner of war building at Libby Prison in Richmond, Virginia. Of the 109 escapees, 59 succeeded in reaching Union lines, 48 were recaptured, and 2 drowned in the nearby James River. Libby Prison encompassed an entire city block in Richmond. To the north lay Carey Street, connecting the prison area to the rest of the city. On the south side ran the James River.

The prison itself stood three stories above ground with a basement exposed on the river side. Living conditions were extremely bad; the food, sometimes lacking altogether, was poor and sanitation practically nonexistent. Thousands died there. The prisoners managed to break in to the basement area known as “rat hell” which was no longer used due to rat infestations, and dig a tunnel. After 17 days of digging, they succeeded in breaking through to a 50-foot vacant lot on the eastern side of the prison, resurfacing beneath a tobacco shed inside the grounds of the nearby Kerr’s Warehouse. When Col. Rose finally broke through to the other side, he told his men that the “Underground Railroad to God’s Country was open!”

The officers escaped the prison in groups of two and three on the night of February 9, 1864. Once within the tobacco shed, the men collected inside the walled warehouse yard and simply strolled out the front gate. The tunnel provided enough distance from the prison to stealthily subvert those jurisdictional lines and allow prisoners to slip into the dark streets unchallenged.


3. Pascal Payet

There can be no doubt that this man deserves a place on this list - he has escaped not once, but twice from high security prisons in France - each time via hijacked helicopter! He also helped organize the escape of three other prisoners - again with a helicopter.

Payet was initially sentenced to a 30 year jail term for a murder committed during the robbery of a security van. After his first escape (in 2001) he was captured and given seven more years for his role in the 2003 escape. He then escaped from Grasse prison using a helicopter that was hijacked by four masked men from Cannes-Mandelieu airport. The helicopter landed some time later at Brignoles, 38 kilometres north-east of Toulon, France on the Mediterranean coast. Payet and his accomplices then fled the scene and the pilot was released unharmed. Payet was re-captured on September 21, 2007, in Mataró, Spain, about 18 miles northeast of Barcelona. He had undergone cosmetic surgery, but was still identified by Spanish police.


2. The Great Escape

Stalag Luft III was a German Air Force prisoner-of-war camp during World War II that housed captured air force personnel. In January 1943, Roger Bushell led a plot for a major escape from the camp. The plan was to dig three deep tunnels, codenamed “Tom,” “Dick,” and “Harry.” Each of the tunnel entrances was carefully selected to ensure they were undetectable by the camp guards. In order to keep the tunnels from being detected by the perimeter microphones, they were very deep — about 9 metres (30 ft) below the surface. The tunnels were very small, only two feet square (about 0.37 m²), though larger chambers were dug to house the air pump, a workshop, and staging posts along each tunnel. The sandy walls of the tunnels were shored up with pieces of wood scavenged from all over the camp.

As the tunnels grew longer, a number of technical innovations made the job easier and safer. One important issue was ensuring that the person digging had enough oxygen to breathe and keep his lamps lit. A pump was built to push fresh air along the ducting into the tunnels. Later, electric lighting was installed and hooked into the camp’s electrical grid. The tunnellers also installed small rail car systems for moving sand more quickly, much like the systems used in old mining operations. The rails were key to moving 130 tons of material in a five-month period; they also reduced the time taken for tunnellers to reach the digging faces.

“Harry” was finally ready in March 1944, but by that time the American prisoners, some of whom had worked extremely hard in all the effort to dig the tunnels, were moved to another compound. The prisoners had to wait about a week for a moonless night so that they could leave under the cover of complete darkness. Finally, on Friday, March 24, the escape attempt began. Unfortunately for the prisoners, the tunnel had come up short. It had been planned that the tunnel would reach into a nearby forest, but the first man out emerged just short of the tree line. Despite this, 76 men crawled through the tunnel to initial freedom, even through an air raid during which the camp’s (and the tunnel’s) electric lights were shut off. Finally, at 5 AM on March 25, the 77th man was seen emerging from the tunnel by one of the guards. Out of the 76 men only 3 evaded capture. Fifty men were killed and the rest were captured and sent back.


1. Colditz Escape

Colditz was one of the most famous German Army prisoner-of-war camps for officers in World War II. The camp was located in Colditz Castle, situated on a cliff overlooking the town of Colditz in Saxony. There were numerous successful attempts at escaping Colditz, but one in particular is the most interesting. In one of the most ambitious escape attempts from Colditz, the idea of building a glider was dreamt up by two British pilots, Jack Best and Bill Goldfinch, who had been sent to Colditz after escaping from another POW camp. The plan was to construct a two-man glider part by part.

The glider was assembled by Bill Goldfinch and Jack Best in the lower attic above the chapel, and was to be launched from the roof in order to fly across the river Mulde, which was about 200 feet (60 m) below. The officers who took part in the project built a false wall, to hide the secret space in the attic where they slowly built the glider out of stolen pieces of wood. Since the Germans were accustomed to looking down for tunnels, not up for secret workshops, they felt rather safe from detection. Hundreds of ribs had to be constructed, predominantly formed from bed slats, but also from every other piece of wood the POW’s could surreptitiously obtain. The wing spars were constructed from floor boards. Control wires were made from electrical wiring in unused portions of the castle.

A glider expert, Lorne Welch, was asked to review the stress diagrams and calculations made by Goldfinch. Although the Colditz Cock never flew in real life, a replica of the Colditz glider was built for the 2000 Channel 4 “Escape from Colditz” documentary, and was flown successfully by John Lee on its first attempt at RAF Odiham with Best and Goldfinch in tearful attendance. While Best and Goldfinch did not escape Colditz (the camp was relieved by the allies just as the glider was nearing completion), they certainly had the most interesting and innovative method for executing it.

Source from listverse.com

Top 10 Skills You Need to Succeed at Almost Anything

What does it take to succeed? A positive attitude? Well, sure, but that’s hardly enough. The Law of Attraction? The Secret? These ideas might act as spurs to action, but without the action itself, they don’t do much.
Success, however it’s defined, takes action, and taking good and appropriate action takes skills. Some of these skills (not enough, though) are taught in school (not well enough, either), others are taught on the job, and still others we learn from general life experience.

Below is a list of general skills that will help anyone get ahead in practically any field, from running a company to running a gardening club. Of course, there are skills specific to each field as well - but my concern here is with the skills that translate across disciplines, the ones that can be learned by anyone in any position.


1. Public Speaking
The ability to speak clearly, persuasively, and forcefully in front of an audience - whether an audience of 1 or of thousands - is one of the most important skills anyone can develop. People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around. Being able to speak effectively means you can sell anything - products, of course, but also ideas, ideologies, worldviews. And yourself - which means more opportunities for career advancement, bigger clients, or business funding.


2. Writing
Writing well offers many of the same advantages that speaking well offers: good writers are better at selling products, ideas, and themselves than poor writers. Learning to write well involves not just mastery of grammar but the development of the ability to organize one’s thoughts into a coherent form and target it to an audience in the most effective way possible. Given the huge amount of text generated by almost every transaction - from court briefs and legislation running into the thousands of pages to those foot-long receipts you get when you buy gum these days - a person who is a master of the written word can expect doors to open in just about every field.


3. Self-Management
If success depends of effective action, effective action depends on the ability to focus your attention where it is needed most, when it is needed most. Strong organizational skills, effective productivity habits, and a strong sense of discipline are needed to keep yourself on track.

4. Networking
Networking is not only for finding jobs or clients. In an economy dominated by ideas and innovation, networking creates the channel through which ideas flow and in which new ideas are created. A large network, carefully cultivated, ties one into not just a body of people but a body of relationships, and those relationships are more than just the sum of their parts. The interactions those relationships make possible give rise to innovation and creativity - and provide the support to nurture new ideas until they can be realized.


5. Critical Thinking
We are exposed to hundreds, if not thousands, of times more information on a daily basis than our great-grandparents were. Being able to evaluate that information, sort the potentially valuable from the trivial, analyze its relevance and meaning, and relate it to other information is crucial - and woefully under-taught. Good critical thinking skills immediately distinguish you from the mass of people these days.


6. Decision-Making
The bridge that leads from analysis to action is effective decision-making - knowing what to do based on the information available. While not being critical can be dangerous, so too can over-analyzing, or waiting for more information before making a decision. Being able to take in the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes.


7. Math
You don’t have to be able to integrate polynomials to be successful. However, the ability to quickly work with figures in your head, to make rough but fairly accurate estimates, and to understand things like compound interest and basic statistics gives you a big lead on most people. All of these skills will help you to analyze data more effectively - and more quickly - and to make better decisions based on it.


8. Research
Nobody can be expected to know everything, or even a tiny fraction of everything. Even within your field, chances are there’s far more that you don’t know than you do know. You don’t have to know everything - but you should be able to quickly and painlessly find out what you need to know. That means learning to use the Internet effectively, learning to use a library, learning to read productively, and learning how to leverage your network of contacts - and what kinds of research are going to work best in any given situation.


9. Relaxation
Stress will not only kill you, it leads to poor decision-making, poor thinking, and poor socialization. So be failing to relax, you knock out at least three of the skills in this list - and really more. Plus, working yourself to death in order to keep up, and not having any time to enjoy the fruits of your work, isn’t really “success”. It’s obsession. Being able to face even the most pressing crises with your wits about you and in the most productive way is possibly the most important thing on this list.


10. Basic Accounting
It is a simple fact in our society that money is necessary. Even the simple pleasures in life, like hugging your child, ultimately need money - or you’re not going to survive to hug for very long. Knowing how to track and record your expenses and income is important just to survive, let alone to thrive. But more than that, the principles of accounting apply more widely to things like tracking the time you spend on a project or determining whether the value of an action outweighs the costs in money, time, and effort. It’s a shame that basic accounting isn’t a required part of the core K-12 curriculum.
What Else?
Surely there are more important skills I’m not thinking of (which is probably why I’m not telling Bill Gates what to do!) - what are they? What have I missed? What lessons have you learned that were key to your successes - and what have you ignored to your peril?

Top 10 Worst USA Named Cities

At the risk of never being given the keys to the city of Crapo, Maryland, where you might not to want to open anything anyway, namely a business, there are some places that are just plain unappealing to the ear. There are towns that for whatever reason struck ‘appeal to tourists’ off the local chamber of commerce agendas, watched the Rotarians rotate their wheels out of Dodge and whose mayors are currently in the process of decommissioning our welcome wagons. I give you the 10 worst named cities in America. Special honor to Pennsylvania for dominating this list.

10. Dead Horse, Alaska

What more could we say about it without invoking the phrase? If your town is a ‘one horse’ one, better make sure the beast isn’t glue factory-bound.

9. Fleatown, Ohio

Brought in from a curbside mattress. Don’t make any hotel reservations.

8. Hell, Michigan

‘Hell’ might mean bright in German, but these name choices aren’t. If Hell was at a lower latitude, instead of Michigan, at least in the summer it would lend itself to ‘It’s hotter than Hell”, “No it isn’t” repartee.


7. Virginville, Pennsylvania

Not a popular town for the guys, but probably a place most mother’s would like their daughters to take up residence, at least until they are safely married. The fact that a hotel bears the name is high comedy. (See photo)


6. Looneyville, Texas

You can only blame the township so much, when the founder was name John Looney. At the time the word looney may not have had the connotation it does now. But the stigma must be horrible when you think about your job interview and announce you are from the town of Looneyville.

5. Boogertown, North Carolina

One good thing about Boogertown, is that it’s in Gaston County home of Cito Gaston who captained the Toronto Blue Jays to back to back World Series wins. This may be a stretch, but why don’t YOU come up with something for a substance a construction worker shoots out his left nostril.


4. Intercourse, Pennsylvania

The sign reads “Welcome to Intercourse” and how many married men thought the were entering that very “city” when getting married only to find it was a one-way trip to Blue Ball Pennsylvania. Good thing its close by.


3. Blue Ball, Pennsylvania

The town’s name often gets attention due to it being very similar to blue balls, a sexual condition in males. This joins nearby towns Intercourse, Bird-in-Hand, and Virginville in the list of sexually-suggestive sounding town names in the Pennsylvania Dutch area of Pennsylvania.


2. Spread Eagle, Wisconsin

A city that’s tough on crime, but leaves you feeling compromised.


1. Boring, Oregon

The community was named for W. H. Boring, an early resident of the area. The name “Boring” is embraced by locals, however, and found in many local businesses, resulting in many road signs that seem humorous to outsiders. Boosters of the village designation use the slogan “The most exciting place to live.

source from toptenz.net

Top 10 Do's and Don'ts When Starting A Business

THE TOP TEN DO'S WHEN STARTING A BUSINESS
1.Live frugally and begin saving up money for starting your business.
2.Learn your intended business by working for someone else in the same business first.
3.Consider the benefits of starting a moonlight business.
4.Consider the advantages of operating a family business.
5.Objectively measure your skills and training against potential competition.

6.Consider subcontracting to low cost suppliers if you're manufacturing a product.
7.Test market your product or service before starting or expanding.
8.Make "for" and "against" list describing the specific business you are considering.
9.Talk to lots of people in your intended business for advice.
10.Make a comparative analysis of all opportunities you are considering.



THE TOP TEN DON'TS WHEN STARTING A BUSINESS
1.Think about leaving your job before you have completed start-up plans.
2.Consider starting a business in a field you do not enjoy.
3.Risk all the family assets. Limit your liabilities to a predetermined amount.
4.Compete with your employer in a moonlight business.
5.Hurry to select a business. There is no penalty for missed opportunities.

6.Select a business that is too high a risk or hurdle. Go for the two-foot hurdle.
7.Select a business in which you must have the lowest price to succeed.
8.Ignore the negative aspects of an intended business.
9.Permit self-confidence to outweigh careful diligence.
10.Allow the promise of a conceptual high reward deter reality testing first.

Top 10 Comic Book Villains

Comic book characters have taken off recently, especially with the popularity of the movies and animation on television. Even more so it appears the comic villains get a bigger spotlight than the heroes themselves. In a way this makes sense as the villains are often more interesting. Here is the top ten list of comic book villains. Criteria takes into account how important the villains were in the life of “their” hero, how powerful they were (raw power and brain power), and are they interesting. In the end it came down to this: Would I want to read a story with this comic book villain if there were no heroes in the story.




10. Kingpin
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-man #50, Marvel Comics
Wilson Fisk is a criminal mastermind who is involved in extensive illegal activities such as drug running, smuggling, murder, and extortion. Despite this, he has no criminal record and an army of lawyers to keep it that way. He is a criminal financial strategist without parallel. Fisk has no superhuman powers, but the majority of his 400-plus pound bulk is solid muscle. He has battled heroes such as Captain America, Moon Knight and Daredevil, but his most despised antagonist has been Spider-Man.Most heinous crime: Ordered a hit on Spider-Man’s Aunt May.



9. Galactus
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #48, Marvel Comics
Sole survivor of the universe existing before the Big Bang, Galactus is perhaps the most feared being in the cosmos. Considering he devours planets, he has killed more beings than any the villain on this list or even all combined on this list. Although some may consider him a “force of nature” and a natural part of the universal order, the fear he elicits easily ranks him in the top ten of villains.
Most heinous crime: He has tried to devour Earth many times and his most famous feeding came at the expense of the Skrull home world, leaving the planet a lifeless rock.


8. Thanos
First Appearance: Iron Man #55, Marvel Comics
Considering he has courted death as his lover, that should give you an idea about how impressive he is as a villain. If only Death will do, you are setting your sights high (or low). What kind of gifts do you offer Death? A lifeless universe according to Thanos.
He has controlled some of the most power objects in the universe such as the Cosmic Cube and the Infinity Gems and became god-like himself. He has defeated Galactus to add to his legend.
Most heinous crime: His villainy was seen at an early age when he attacked his home world with nuclear weapons, killing thousands, including his own mother. Now that is cold.


7. Doomsday
First Appearance: Superman: The Man of Steel #17, DC Comics

Doomsday was created and evolved through cloning an infant and having it killed over and over again in one of the harshest habitats in existence, prehistoric Krypton. In other words, he was bred to be nasty.
Many may complain that Doomsday was a marketing ploy but you gotta give him his due becasue he did kill Superman and killing the Man of Steel has to count for something. If you are a one-trick pony, killing the greatest superhero in comic book history is certainly a good place to start. He also defeated the entire Just League, with one arm literally tied behind his back, before killing Superman.
Most heinous crime: He killed Superman. Really, he killed Superman.


6. Dr. Doom
First Appearance: Fantastic Four #5, Marvel Comics
Victor Von Doom suffered an accident that caused his face to be scarred. After this accident he made matters worse when he then attached a hot steel mask to his face, further scarring him, physically and mentally. That takes commitment.
He has controlled various forces of the universe, much like Thanos, such as the Power Cosmic which he stole from the Silver Surfer. He has also usurped the powers of Galactus and a all-powerful being, the Beyonder. In other words he is crafty and smart.
Most heinous crime: He actually sent Franklin Richards, the child of Reed and Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four, to Hell seeking to torment his parents


5. Green Goblin
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-man #14, Marvel Comics
While not one of my favorite villains, he did cause the 2nd most defining moment in the career of Spider-Man. He murdered Spider-Man’s girlfriend Gwen Stacey when he dropped her from Washington Bridge. He has caused Spider-Man more problems and heart-ache than any other villain and had knowledge of Spider-man’s secret identity as Peter Parker. Considered to be Spider-Man’s most dangerous villain the Green Goblin’s insanity and lust for revenge only makes him that much more deadly.
Most heinous crime: Killed Gwen Stacey in front of Spider-Man.


4. Venom
First Appearance: Amazing Spider-Man #300, Marvel Comics
Venom is actually a team-up between two beings, one an alien and one a human, who both hate Peter Parker/Spider-Man intensely. Venom is an alien symbiote that has bonded with a number of different hosts who all share its hatred, most notable Eddie Brock..
Venom has all the powers of Spider-Man but does not trigger Spider-Man’s early warning abilities, his spider sense, which gives him a crucial advantage over Spider-Man. Venom also has knowledge of Spidey’s secret identity and kidnapped Peter’s parents in an effort to lure him into trap. Although he has had a tendency to fight for good by protecting the innocent he started out as a villain and always comes back to his evil-doing roots. His extreme popularity guarantees him a place on this list.
Most heinous crime: Pushed Spider-Man in front of a train and turned Peter Parker into a ultra-violent vigilante while trying to bond with him.


3. Magneto
First Appearance: Uncanny X-men #1, Marvel Comics
One of the first mutants to appear on the planet and also one of the most dangerous, Magneto has deemed that mutants or homo-superiors are homo sapiens’ successors as rulers of the planet. He is more than willing to sacrifice every human to achieve his ultimate goal of mutant domination on Earth.

His control of all magnetic forces him a good shot at this, especially when he leads his team of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants or any army of misguided mutants. Not letting his past friendship with Charles Xavier get in the way, he has attacked the X-men throughout their history and knows their strengths and weaknesses.
Most heinous crime: He ripped Wolverine’s adamantium metal skeleton from his body and physically reduced the X-men to the level of a two-year old while leaving their minds in tact. Oh, and he killed Jean Grey.


2. Joker
First Appearance: Batman #1, DC Comics

The maniacal Joker is Batman’s most dangerous foe. Unpredictable, murderous and surprisingly cunning, the Joker is a threat to all human life. Heath Ledger commented on his role, describing his character, the Joker as a “psychopathic, mass-murdering, schizophrenic clown with zero empathy.”
While Joker is a skilled inventor and chemist, the reason he is on this list is due to his purely evil actions spurred by his insanity. Nothing is beyond him and no life holds any value in his warped reality. With a maniacal intensity his focus is usually on destroying Batman while having a laugh doing it. Killing innocents isn’t only his plan, it is his desire.
His most heinous crime: He is a mass murderer killing hundreds of people. He killed the 2nd Robin, Jason Todd, Sarah Essen (Commissioner Gordon’s second wife), and crippled Batgirl.


1. Lex Luthor
First Appearance: Action Comics #23, DC Comics

Lex Luthor may be one of the most gifted persons alive in every facet of his life, but he is also a sociopath without regard for the suffering of others. His hatred for the Man of Steel drives him and makes him Superman’s greatest foe.
Becoming President of the United States and knowing that Kryptonite is the one weakness of Superman has given Lex advantages when trying to destroy Clark Kent’s alter ego. Lex’s disregard for everyone, believing himself superior to all others, has placed him at the top of the list. It has to be noted that he is more intelligent than Superman and has often out-smarted him. Add to the fact that nothing is too low or too vile for him he has an advantage over the moral limitations of Superman. Calculating, cool and a master manipulator puts Lex at the top of the comic book villain chart.

Most heinous crime: Lex activated a “Doomsday Plan” to destroy Metropolis and burned the city to the ground killing thousands. He also had an affair Perry White’s wife, fathering a child.


There were many honorable mentions such as Doctor Octopus, Dark Phoenix, Sinestro and Apocalypse. Do you think any other comic book villains were overlooked? (Editors note: Red Skull and Darkseid deserve at least honorable mention as well.)

Top 10 Underworld Gangster Nickname

This top ten list contains themes that are not meant for children and I caution you. It does deal with the Mafia, organized crime and the underworld, therefore some criminal descriptions are included. When choosing the Top Ten Underworld Gangster names the criteria used included: how infamous the criminal was, how clever the nickname was and how the gangster arrived by the nickname. Ready to find out the top ten gangster nicknames? Keep your hands up and start reading.

10. Charles “Pretty Boy” Floyd

It is a known fact that Charles Arthur Floyd hated his nickname, but sources disagree on how he received it. Two stories are given, one stating “Pretty Boy” was given to him by the prostitutes from the whorehouses he frequented and the second states that he earned his nickname from a description of him in his first major robbery as “a pretty boy.” He hated the name so much that he killed other gangsters for calling him by the nickname. In fact, after being gunned down, with his dying breath he made one final declaration, “I’m Charles Arthur Floyd.”

9. Charlie “Lucky” Luciano

Charlie Luciano was given the nickname “Lucky” when he came back from “taking a ride” to get whacked. He did receive a knife would from his encounter which caused a permanent droopy eye (see in picture). Many stories circulate about the ride but most agree he was tortured by the family of a officer whose daughter he had seduced. He used this story to increase his legend with the underworld often stating he was the only member of the mafia to return alive after being taken for a ride. In his old age, after being deported to Italy, Lucky became a charitable man, helping many Italians before he set up a medical supply store as a front for his illegal businesses.

8. Sam “Golf Bag” Hunt

The nickname “Golf Bag” certainly doesn’t instill fear, dread or even wonder, until you know the reason this mobster was given the name Golf Bag. Working for Capone as a mob enforcer (hitman), Sam Hunt would carry his weapons in his golf bag to hide them. If you saw Sam coming towards you with his golf bag slung on his shoulder and your weren’t teeing off on the green, you should probably be running the other direction.

7. Israel “Icepick Willie” Alderman

This grisly nickname needs little imagination. As you would suspect, Icepick Willies’ method of murder involved an icepick. As the owner of a speakeasy in Minneapolis the gangster would murder his victims by pushing the icepick through their eardrum and into the brain. He used this quick “technique” because eyewitnesses would only see the victim suddenly slump over as a would-be drunk who had passed out. Icepick Willie could then drag the corpse from the speakeasy, as if helping the drunkard, and then dispose of the body.

6. Vincent “Mad Dog” Coll

Not someone you would ever want to meet, Mad Dog Coll was given the nickname for his disregard for human life including children. On July 28, 1931, Coll unsuccessfully attempted to kidnap Joey Rao, a Dutch Schultz underling. The resulting shootout left a five year old child, Michael Vengali, dead and several children wounded. After this atrocity, New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker dubbed Coll “Mad Dog” and the whole city started looking for him. A $50,000 bounty was put on Mad Dog and he was gunned down while making a call in a phone booth in 1932.

5. Thomas “Butterfingers” Moran
Legendary pickpocket, Thomas “Butterfingers” Moran, was a adept pickpocket who could “slide in and out of a pocket like pure butter.” Thomas picked his first pocket in 1906 in San Fransisco and his last pocket at age 78, in 1970. It is said he picked over 50,000 pockets during his lifetime. Like Pretty Boy, Butterfingers didn’t care for his nickname when he was quoted, “”I’ve never forgiven that smart-alecky reporter who named me ‘Butterfingers’.”

4. Lester “Baby Face” Nelson

Public Enemy #1 throughout the 1930s, Lester Joseph Gillis better known as “Baby Face” Nelson, due to his young appearance, didn’t care for his nickname and at one point declared himself “Big” George Nelson. The problem? He was only 5 feet 4 inches tall. “Where outlaws such as Pretty Boy Floyd…would kill to protect themselves when cornered, Nelson went out of his way to murder – he loved it,” said Jay Robert Nash in Bloodletters and Badmen. “His angelic, pear-smooth face never betrayed his instant ability to kill.” Photo courtesy of Rick Mattix.

3. George “Machine Gun” Kelly

George “Machine Gun” Kelly, the notorious racketeer who gave FBI agents the nickname G-men, was given his gangster nickname by his wife Kathryn who forced him to practice with the machine gun. (She gave it to him as a birthday present.) She became his public relations force and built up his “street cred” with other criminals. In fact he was not accused or convicted of murder and never used his machine gun with the intent to kill. During his time at Alcatraz he got the nickname ‘Pop Gun Kelly’ for the fact that he was a model prisoner and was nowhere near the tough, brutal gangster his wife made him out to be.

2. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel

An American gangster who was a driving force behind the development of Las Vega, Ben “Bugsy” Siegel was not fond of his nickname and was never called that to his face. It was said to cause him to become enraged, murderously so. During his trial for the murder of Harry “Big Greenie” Greenberg (he was acquitted), the newspapers revealed Siegel’s sordid past and started referring to him as “Bugsy”. He hated the nickname, “Bugsy” (said to be based on the slang term “bugs”, meaning “crazy”, describing his erratic behavior), and wouldn’t allow anyone to call him that to his face.

1. “Scarface” Al Capone

Scarface Al was employed as a bouncer by racketeer Frankie Yale. Capone received the scars that gave him the nickname “Scarface” when he insulted a woman while working the door at a Brooklyn night club. This provoked a fight with her brother Frank Gallucio. Capone’s face was slashed three times on the left side by Gallucio. When photographed, Capone hid the scarred left side of his face and would lie about his injuries as war wounds, but he never served in the armed forces. According to the 2002 magazine from Life , Capone was called “Snorky” by his closest friends. “Scarface” was certainly the better choice for an underworld gangster. Who could take Al “Snorky” Capone seriously.
Got someone to add to this list of top ten mafia nicknames, please comment below.
Source from Toptenz.com

Top 10 Stupidest Thieves Moves

Sometimes the best planned crimes can go horribly wrong. Either by accident or stupidity. This is a list of the 10 most stupid thieves moves.

1. Showing off your booty
Charles Taylor of Wichita, Kansas, was arrested for robbing a shoe store at knifepoint and stealing a $69 pair of size 10 1/2 tan hiking boots on December 18, 1996. At his trial, three months later, Taylor arrogantly rested his feet on the defence table. He was wearing a pair of size 10 1/2 tan hiking boots. The judge, James Fleetwood, was incredulous. ‘I leaned over and stared,’ he later said. ‘Surely nobody would be so stupid as to wear the boots he stole to his trial.’ But it turned out one person was that stupid. Taylor was convicted of aggravated robbery and sent back to jail in his stockinged feet.

2. Wrong Place, Wrong Time
On November 29, 1978, David Goodhall and two female accomplices entered a home supplies shop in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, intending to engage in a bit of shoplifting. After stuffing a pair of curtains into a plastic carrier bag, the threesome attempted to leave by separate exits. However, they were apprehended immediately by several store detectives. Goodhall and his cohorts had failed to notice that the shop, at that very moment, was hosting a convention of store detectives.

3. Checking Out
Eighteen year old Charles A. Meriweather broke into a home in Northwest Baltimore on the night of November 22-23, 1978, raped the woman who lived there, and then ransacked the house. When he discovered that she only had $11.50 in cash, he asked her “How do you pay your bills?”
She Replied, “By cheque” and he ordered her to write out a cheque for $30. He then changed his mind and upped it to $50.
“Who shall I make it out to?” asked the woman, a 34 year old government employee.
“Charles A. Meriweather,” said Charles A. Meriweather, adding, “It better not bounce or I’ll be back.”
Meriweather was arrested several hours later.


4. Keep the Change
In 1977, a thief in Southampton, England, came up with a clever method of robbing the cash register at a local supermarket. After collecting a basketful of groceries, he approached the checkout area and placed a £10 note on the counter. The grocery clerk took the bill and opened the cash register, at which point the thief snatched the contents and ran off. It turned out to be a bad deal for the thief, since the till contained only £4.37 and the thief ended up losing £5.63.

5. The Weld-planned Robbery
On the night of August 23-24, 1980, a well-organized gang of thieves began their raid on the safe of the leisure-center office in Chichester, Sussex, by stealing a speedboat. Using water skis to paddle across the lake, they picked up their equipment and paddled on to the office. However, what they thought were cutting tools turned out to be welding gear, and they soon managed to seal the safe completely shut. The next morning it took the office staff an hour to hammer and chisel the safe open again.

6. Who Was that Masked Man?
Clive Bunyan ran into a store in Cayton, near Scarborough, England, and forced the shop assistant to give him £157 from the till. Then he made his getaway on his motorbike. To hide his identity, Bunyan had worn his full face helmet as a mask. It was a smooth successful heist, except for one detail: he had forgotten that across his helmet, in inch-high letters, were the words, “Clive Bunyan - Driver”. Bunyan was arrested and ordered to pay for his crime by doing 200 hours of community service.

7. The Worst Lawyer
Twenty-five year old Marhshall George Cummings, Jr, of Tulsa, Oklahoma, was charged with attempted robbery in connection with a pure-snatching at a shopping center on October 14, 1976. During the trial the following January, Cummings chose to act as his own attorney. While cross-examining the victim, Cummings asked, “Did you get a good look at my face when I took your purse?” Cummings later decided to turn over his defence to a public defender, but it was too late. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison.


8. Big Mouth
Dennis Newton was on trial in 1985 for armed robbery in Oklahoma City. Assistant District Attorney Larry Jones asked one of the witnesses, the supervisor of the store that had been robbed, to identify the robber. When she pointed to the defendant, Newton jumped to his feet, accused the witness of lying, and said, “I should have blown your —ing head off!” After a moment of stunned silence, he added, “If I’d been the one that was there.” The jury sentenced Newton to 30 years in prison.

9. Wrong Fence
Stephen Le and two juvenile companions tried to break in to a parked pickup truck in Larkspur, California, on the night of September 27, 1989. But the owner caught them in the act, chased them, and hailed a police car. Le and one of his friends climbed a fence and ran. It soon became apparent that they had chosen the wrong fence - this one surrounded the property of San Quentin prison. The suspects were booked for investigation of auto burglary and trespassing on state property, although charges were never filed. “Nothing like this has ever happened here before,” said Lieutenant Cal White. “People just don’t break in to prison every day.”

10. Shooting Himself in the Foot
In February 2004, Carlos Henrique Auad of Petropolis, Brazil, broke into a bar near his home and stole a television set. A few nights later, Auad tried to break in to the same bar through the roof. This time, carrying a gun, he slipped and fell and shot himself in the right foot. Auad went straight home, but failed to notice that he left a trail of blood that led right to his door. He was arrested by police who found the television set.

Source: The Book of Lists

Top 20 Fastest Land Animals

The Cheetah has long been recognized as the fastest land animal in the world reaching speeds upwards of 70mph. Following is a list of the Top 25 fastest land animals. Fortunately for humans, whose speed does not qualify for this list, we don't have to outrun any of these animals to survive.

1. Cheetah (Speed in mph :70 )



The cheetah is the fastest member of the cat family and is unique because what it lacks in climbing abilities it makes up for in speed and stealth. The cheetah is the fastest of all land animals and can reach speeds between 112 kilometres per hour (70 mph) and 120 kilometres per hour (75 mph) in short bursts up to 460 metres (500 yd). The cheetah's ability to accelerate is unmatched. The animal can easily accelerate from 0 to 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph) in three seconds, faster than most supercars.

2. Pronghorn Antelope (Speed in mph :61 )



The Pronghorn Antelope's exceptional speed is necessary in order to evade predators by outrunning them. The animal is considered to be the fastest animal in the new world. The top speed is very hard to measure accurately and it varies between individuals, however the animal has been clocked at 61mph. It is often cited as the second-fastest land animal with the Cheetah being the fastest. The animal can sustain these speeds much longer than a cheetah due to its larger heart and lungs. these animals are poor jumpers.

3. Wildebeest (Speed in mph :50 )



The Wildebeest is another animal that relies on its speed to evade predators. These animals are favorites of the big cats as they inhabit the plains and open woodlands of Africa. They are most plentiful in the Serengeti and can live more than 20 years.

4. Lion (Speed in mph :50 )



The king of bests doesn't often use his speed when hunting because the lioness does the majority of the hunting. Those Lions without a pride use clever stealth and speed to catch their prey. Males can exceed 550lbs, making it the second largest living cat after the tiger. Wild lions can only be found in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and a small population in northwest India.

5. Thomson's Gazelle (Speed in mph :50 )



Named after explorer Joseph Thompson, the Thompson's Gazelle is one of the best known gazelles. In order to evade its main enemy, the cheetah, these animals can reach speeds of 50 mph, and can sustain longer bursts than their mortal enemy.

6. Quarterhorse (Speed in mph :47.5 )



The Quarter Horse is an exceptional sprinter deriving its name from its ability to out distance other horses in races of a quarter mile or less. The horse can achieve speeds upwards of 47 mph. This horse is the most popular breed with the United States with nearly 5 million horses registered worldwide.

7. Elk (Speed in mph :45 )



The elk is frequently considered to be the second largest species of deer in the world. It is also one of the largest mammals in North America and Easter Asia. The moose is the only animal larger. This is another animal that will use its speed to avoid predators, however due to its large size, many predators would rather not bother the animal.
8. Cape Hunting Dog (Speed in mph :45 )



These dogs use their cunning abilities and speed, while hunting in packs to focus on medium sized prey such as the impala. Sometimes, however these packs will bring down wildebeests and zebras. Their attack is coorinated and often starts with a stampede towards the pack. One dog will grab the victims tail, another the upper lip and the the remainder will disembowel the animal leaving it immobilized.

9. Coyote (Speed in mph :43 )



Coyotes use their speed to hunt small mammals such as rabbits, mice, squirrels, deer and live stock. The animal is highly carnivorous, however very versatile and will eat whatever is available depending on the season.

10. Gray Fox (Speed in mph :42 )



The gray fox is a solitary hunter that will eat meat and greens frequently. They use their speed and stealth to hunt rabbits, however also catch voles, mice, shrews and birds. The fox rounds out its diet with a generous helping of whatever fruits they find as well as vegetables.
The Rest
11. Hyena (Speed in mph :40 )
12. Zebra (Speed in mph :40 )
13. Mongolian Wild Ass (Speed in mph :40 )
14. Greyhound (Speed in mph :39.35 )
15. Whippet (Speed in mph :35.5 )
16. Rabbit (Speed in mph :35 )
17. Mule Deer (Speed in mph :35 )
18. Jackal (Speed in mph :35 )
19. Reindeer (Speed in mph :32 )
20. Giraffe (Speed in mph :32 )

Bonus : Humans

The top speed of humans was clocked at 27 mph by Olympic sprinters Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey during their Olympic competitions. At top speed, which only lasts for very short bursts, the human ranks around number 30 and is preceded by the White Tailed Deer, the Wart Hog, the Grizzly Bear and the cat to name a few. It must be further noted that the average top speed of an in shape male human being is between 15-18 mph.

Top 10 Least Densely Pupulated region

10. Mauritania

population 3,068,742; area 1,025,520 km2; density 3.0 people/km2
The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is a country in northwest Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west, Senegal on the southwest, Mali on the southeast and east, Algeria on the northeast, and the Morocco-controlled Western Sahara (about which more later) on the northwest. In an area roughly the size of Ontario or Egypt there are 3 million people and not much else.

9.Iceland

population 309,672; area 103,000 km2; density 3.0 people/km2
The Republic of Iceland is an island country in Northern Europe, located in the North Atlantic Ocean between mainland Europe and Greenland (about which more later). In an area roughly the size of Kentucky or the former East Germany there are 300,000 people and a lot of geezers (or maybe geysers).

8. Suriname

population 449,238; area 163,820 km2; density 2.7 people/km2
The Republic of Suriname is a country in northern South America, bordered by Guyana to the west, Brazil to the south, French Guiana (about which more later) to the east and the Atlantic ocean to the north. In an area roughly the size of Wisconsin or Tunisia there are 450,000 people and possibly more languages spoken than in any comparable country.

7.Australia

population 21,050,000; area 7,682,300; density 2.6 people/km2
The Commonwealth of Australia is a continent island country located between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. In an area roughly the size of the contiguous 48 states of the USA or almost twice the area of the European Union, there are 21 million people and the world’s most venomous snakes. Two-thirds of the people live in 5 major cities, all located on the coast. Very few of the snakes do.

6. Namibia

population 2,031,252; area 824,292 km2; density 2.5 people/km2
The Republic of Namibia is a country in south-west Africa, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, South Africa to the south, Botswana to the east and Angola to the north. In an area roughly the size of Ontario or Pakistan there are 2 million people and massive problem with HIV/AIDS.

5.French Guiana, France

population 187,056; area 90,000 km2; density 2.1 people/km2
La Region Guyane is an overseas department of France, located on the northern coast of South America, bordered by Suriname (see number to the west, Brazil to the south-west and the Atlantic ocean to the north. Like the other overseas departments, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France, and is an integral part of the French Republic. In an area roughly the size of Maine or Portugal, there are 187,000 people and the spaceport used by the European space agency.

4. Mongolia

population 2,646,487; area 1,564,116 km2; density 1.7 people/km2
Mongol Uls is a landlocked country between Russia and China in Central/East Asia. It is the world’s second largest landlocked country (after Kazakhstan) and the least densely populated independent country. In an area roughly the size of Quebec or Iran, there are 2.6 million people and the world’s smallest stock exchange.

3.Western Sahara, Morocco

population 440,000; area 266,000 km2; density 1.3 people/km2
as-Ṣaḥrā’ al-Gharbīyah is a territory in North Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria in the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front independence movement (and government of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) dispute control of the territory. In an area roughly the size of Colorado or New Zealand there are 440,000 people, a lot of sand and not much water.

2.Falkland Islands, United Kingdom

population 3,060; area 12,173 km2; density 0.25 people/km2
The Falkland Islands are a group of two main islands and 776 smaller islands in the South Atlantic Ocean, 480 km from the coast of Argentina. The islands are a self-governing Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom, but have been the subject of a claim to sovereignty by Argentina since the re-establishment of British rule in 1833. In an area roughly the size of Connecticut or Northern Ireland there are 3,000 people and 583,000 sheep.

1.Greenland, Denmark

population 56,916; area 2,175,600 km2; density 0.026 people/km2
Grønland / Kalaallit Nunaat is an ice-covered island between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, lying to the north-east of Canada. It is the world’s largest island and is a self-governing province of Denmark. Though geographically a part of North America, Greenland is politically and historically associated with Europe, specifically Iceland, Norway, and Denmark. In an area larger than Alaska and roughly the size of Saudi Arabia there are 57,000 people and 2.85 million km3 of ice.

This article is licensed under the GFDL because it contains quotations from Wikipedia.

Top 10 Most haunted Places

Everyone seems to know of at least one haunted house; as kids there was almost certainly one in our own neighbourhood. This list contains the most famous and most haunted places in the world. If you have had any experiences of a similar nature, feel free to tell us about it in the comments. I should add, before starting, that I am a skeptic; I have written this list for entertainment value.

1. Borley Rectory, Essex, England

The haunting of the Borley Rectory during the 1920s and 1930s, is undoubtedly one of the most famous in Britain, as well as being one of the most controversial. The wealth of sightings and experiences by independent witnesses, suggests that although much of the phenomena can be explained in rational terms, a percentage remains which can still be seen as inexplicable at the present time.

2. The Whaley House, California

Author deTraci Regula relates her experiences with the house: “Over the years, while dining across the street at the Old Town Mexican Cafe, I became accustomed to noticing that the shutters of the second-story windows [of the Whaley House] would sometimes open while we ate dinner, long after the house was closed for the day. On a recent visit, I could feel the energy in several spots in the house, particularly in the courtroom, where I also smelled the faint scent of a cigar, supposedly Whaley’s calling-card. In the hallway, I smelled perfume, initially attributing that to the young woman acting as docent, but some later surreptitious sniffing in her direction as I talked to her about the house revealed her to be scent-free.”

3. Raynham Hall, Norfolk, England

aynham Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. For 300 years it has been the seat of the Townshend family. The hall gave its name to the area, known as East Raynham, and is reported to be haunted, providing the scene for possibly the most famous ghost photo of all time, the famous Brown Lady descending the staircase. However, the ghost has not been reported since the photo was taken. Its most famous resident was Charles Townshend, 2nd Viscount Townshend (1674-1738), leader in the House of Lords.

4. The Myrtles Plantation, Louisiana


The Myrtles Plantation was built in 1796 by General David Bradford and called Laurel Grove. Touted as “one of America’s most haunted homes”, the plantation is supposedly home of at least 12 ghosts.[9] It is often reported that 10 murders occurred in the house, but historical records only indicate the murder of William Winter. Possibly the most well known of the Myrtles supposed ghosts, Chloe (sometimes Cleo) was reportedly a slave owned by Clark and Sara Woodruff. According to one story, Clark Woodruff had pressured or forced Chloe into being his mistress. Chloe and Clark were caught by Sara Woodruff, and Chloe began to listen at keyholes, trying to learn what would happen to her.

5. Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia

Designed by John Haviland and opened in 1829, Eastern State is considered to be the world’s first true penitentiary. Its revolutionary system of incarceration, dubbed the Pennsylvania System, originated and encouraged solitary confinement as a form of rehabilitation. On June 1st, 2007 a television show called “Most Haunted” went live to the penitentiary. Part of the group went to Al Capones cell. Two people passed out while “investigating” the prison. One member of the team, Yvette, stated that “this is the most evil place I have ever been.” They claimed to have had contact with spirits but there was no hard evidence that their claims were legitimate.

6. The Tower of London, London

Her Majesty’s Royal Palace and Fortress The Tower of London, more commonly known as the Tower of London (and historically simply as The Tower), is an historic monument in central London, England on the north bank of the River Thames. Perhaps the most well-known ghostly resident of the Tower is the spirit of Ann Boleyn, one of the wives of Henry VIII, who was also beheaded in the Tower in 1536. Her ghost has been spotted on many occasions, sometimes carrying her head, on Tower Green and in the Tower Chapel Royal.

7. Waverly Hills Sanatorium, Kentucky

Waverly Hills Sanatorium, located in Louisville, Kentucky, opened in 1910 as a two-story hospital to accommodate 40 to 50 tuberculosis patients. It has been popularized on television as being one of the “most haunted” hospitals in the eastern United States, and was seen on ABC/FOX Family Channel’s Scariest Places On Earth as well as VH1’s Celebrity Paranormal Project. It was also seen on the Sci Fi Channel’s Ghost Hunters. Ghost investigators who have ventured into Waverly have reported a host of strange paranormal phenomena, including voices of unknown origin, isolated cold spots and unexplained shadows. Screams have been heard echoing in its now abandoned hallways, and fleeting apparitions have been encountered.

8. The Queen Mary, California

RMS Queen Mary is an ocean liner that sailed the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for Cunard Line (then Cunard White Star Line). The Queen Mary was purchased by the city of Long Beach, California in 1967 and transformed into a hotel. The most haunted area of the ship is the engine room where a 17-year-old sailor was crushed to death trying to escape a fire. Knocking and banging on the pipes around the door has been heard and recorded by numerous people. In what is now the front desk area of the hotel, visitors have seen the ghost of a “lady in white.” Ghosts of children are said to haunt the ship’s pool.

9. The White House, Washington DC

The home of the presidents of the United States. President Harrison is said to be heard rummaging around in the attic of the White House, looking for who knows what. President Andrew Jackson is thought to haunt his White House bedroom. And the ghost of First Lady Abigail Adams was seen floating through one of the White House hallways, as if carrying something. The most frequently sighted presidential ghost has been that of Abraham Lincoln. Eleanor Roosevelt once stated she believed she felt the presence of Lincoln watching her as she worked in the Lincoln bedroom. Also during the Roosevelt administration, a young clerk claimed to have actually seen the ghost of Lincoln sitting on a bed pulling off his boots.

10. Edinburgh Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland

Edinburgh Castle is reputed to be one of the most haunted spots in Scotland. And Edinburgh itself has been called the most haunted city in all of Europe. On various occasions, visitors to the castle have reported a phantom piper, a headless drummer, the spirits of French prisoners from the Seven Years War and colonial prisoners from the American Revolutionary War - even the ghost of a dog wandering in the grounds’ dog cemetery.

Source from listverse.com

Top 100 Books Ever

In April 2003 the BBC's Big Read began the search for the nation's best-loved novel, and we asked you to nominate your favourite books.

1. The Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
2. Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
3. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman
4. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
5. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, JK Rowling
6. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
7. Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell
9. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
10. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
11. Catch-22, Joseph Heller
12. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë
13. Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks
14. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
15. The Catcher in the Rye, JD Salinger
16. The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame
17. Great Expectations, Charles Dickens
18. Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
19. Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Louis de Bernieres
20. War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy
21. Gone with the Wind, Margaret Mitchell
22. Harry Potter And The Philosopher's Stone, JK Rowling
23. Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets, JK Rowling
24. Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban, JK Rowling
25. The Hobbit, JRR Tolkien
26. Tess Of The D'Urbervilles, Thomas Hardy
27. Middlemarch, George Eliot
28. A Prayer For Owen Meany, John Irving
29. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
30. Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll
31. The Story Of Tracy Beaker, Jacqueline Wilson
32. One Hundred Years Of Solitude, Gabriel García Márquez
33. The Pillars Of The Earth, Ken Follett
34. David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
35. Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl
36. Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson
37. A Town Like Alice, Nevil Shute
38. Persuasion, Jane Austen
39. Dune, Frank Herbert
40. Emma, Jane Austen
41. Anne Of Green Gables, LM Montgomery
42. Watership Down, Richard Adams
43. The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald
44. The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas
45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh
46. Animal Farm, George Orwell
47. A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
48. Far From The Madding Crowd, Thomas Hardy
49. Goodnight Mister Tom, Michelle Magorian
50. The Shell Seekers, Rosamunde Pilcher
51. The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett
52. Of Mice And Men, John Steinbeck
53. The Stand, Stephen King
54. Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
55. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth
56. The BFG, Roald Dahl
57. Swallows And Amazons, Arthur Ransome
58. Black Beauty, Anna Sewell
59. Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer
60. Crime And Punishment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky
61. Noughts And Crosses, Malorie Blackman
62. Memoirs Of A Geisha, Arthur Golden
63. A Tale Of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
64. The Thorn Birds, Colleen McCollough
65. Mort, Terry Pratchett
66. The Magic Faraway Tree, Enid Blyton
67. The Magus, John Fowles
68. Good Omens, Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
69. Guards! Guards!, Terry Pratchett
70. Lord Of The Flies, William Golding
71. Perfume, Patrick Süskind
72. The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Robert Tressell
73. Night Watch, Terry Pratchett
74. Matilda, Roald Dahl
75. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding
76. The Secret History, Donna Tartt
77. The Woman In White, Wilkie Collins
78. Ulysses, James Joyce
79. Bleak House, Charles Dickens
80. Double Act, Jacqueline Wilson
81. The Twits, Roald Dahl
82. I Capture The Castle, Dodie Smith
83. Holes, Louis Sachar
84. Gormenghast, Mervyn Peake
85. The God Of Small Things, Arundhati Roy
86. Vicky Angel, Jacqueline Wilson
87. Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
88. Cold Comfort Farm, Stella Gibbons
89. Magician, Raymond E Feist
90. On The Road, Jack Kerouac
91. The Godfather, Mario Puzo
92. The Clan Of The Cave Bear, Jean M Auel
93. The Colour Of Magic, Terry Pratchett
94. The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho
95. Katherine, Anya Seton
96. Kane And Abel, Jeffrey Archer
97. Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez
98. Girls In Love, Jacqueline Wilson
99. The Princess Diaries, Meg Cabot
100. Midnight's Children, Salman Rushdie

Source from bbc.com

Top 10 List of Common Misconceptions

This Following list is top 10 list of common misconceptions. Feel free to add your own in the comments.

10. Napoleon was unusually short

Much of the reason for the rumours that Napoleon was a short man (and thus had to compensate by invading countries and becoming ruler of Europe) comes from the confusion between old French feet and Imperial (British) feet. Measured shortly after his death in 1821, Napoleon was recorded at 5ft 2in in French feet, which corresponds to 5ft 6.5in in Imperial feet, or 1.69m. This makes him slightly taller than the average Frenchman of the 19th century. Napoleon’s nickname of ‘le petit caporal’ has also perpetuated the rumour, with non-francophones interpreting ‘petit’ to refer to his height, when it was actually a term of affection referring to his camaraderie with ordinary soldiers.

9. Danish Pastries come from Denmark

Arguably the world’s most misleadingly named food, Danish pastries actually originated in Austria, inspired by Turkish baklava. Their name comes from Danish chef L.C. Klitteng who popularized them in Western Europe and the United States in the early 20th century, including baking it for the wedding of US President Woodrow Wilson in 1915. In Denmark and much of Scandinavia, Danish pastries are called ‘Viennese Bread.’
During the Islamic cartoon controversy of 2006, Danish pastries were renamed ‘Roses of the Prophet Muhammad’ in Iran, due to its association with the offending country.

8. Meteorites are hot when they hit Earth

We’ve all seen the cartoons where a meteor falls to Earth (at which point it becomes a meteorite) with a red-hot tinge and smoke blowing off it in all directions. In truth, small meteorites are cold when they hit Earth – in fact many are found with frost on them. A meteorite has been in the near–absolute zero temperature of space for billions of years, so the interior of it is very cold. A meteor’s great speed is enough to melt its outside layer, but any molten material will be quickly blown off, and the interior of the meteor does not have time to heat up because rocks are poor conductors of heat. Also, atmospheric drag can slow small meteors to terminal velocity by the time they hit the ground, giving them time to cool down.

7. Water spins in different directions

Another bane of cartoons. Toilet water does NOT spin in a given direction due to being in a particular hemisphere of the Earth. That phenomenon only occurs in weather patterns of hundreds of miles in size like hurricanes, due to the rotation of the Earth. So there.

6. Bats are blind

A common misconception perpetuated by its use in metaphors and similes (see also 5), bats actually have fairly normal eyesight, although they are very photosensitive and often dazzled by excessive light. However, bats do often use echolocation in situations where their eyesight fails them, such as times of darkness.

5. Chameleons change colour to match their surroundings

An interesting and fun idea, sure, but simply not true. While chameleons can be perceived to change their colour to match their background, a chameleon’s colour change is actually the expression of the physical and physiological condition of the lizard. Chameleon’s are already naturally camouflaged to match their surroundings, and change their colours depending on their mood, and sometimes a sign of communication. A chameleon that is frightened, for example, will turn black.

4. A duck’s quack doesn’t echo

Sounds ludicrous right? Well this rumour somehow worked up a cult following on the Internet who protested its factuality with an almost religious fervour. It got to the point that a respected scientist actually decided to take valuable time out of his day, when he could be curing cancer or something else unimportant, to test this theory. Trevor Cox, of the University of Salford, England, confirmed what all us logical people knew all along - a duck’s quack DOES echo.
He placed a duck in a reverberation chamber and tested its quack. Sure enough he concluded that a duck’s quack does echo, though the sound that comes back is very soft due to the fading nature of the actual quack. Hooray for science.

3. Hitler was an atheist

“We were convinced that the people needs and requires this faith. We have therefore undertaken the fight against the atheistic movement, and that not merely with a few theoretical declarations: we have stamped it out.”
- Adolf Hitler, Berlin, 1933
Christianity - a religion of peace and tolerance that preaches moral values and love for one’s enemies. Well clearly, from a historical perspective, this has certainly not always been the case, although it’s not so much the religion’s fault as the people who attempt to follow it. With over a billion worldwide adherents, is it really probable that everyone who considers themselves a Christian is a pious, holy and moral human being?
One of the most damning criticisms of Hitler and of atheism in general is that Hitler, as an atheist had no morals and thus could kill freely without care or feeling. Well Hitler was certainly not an atheist; he was born a Roman Catholic, although how religious he actually was is debatable. It is clear though that Hitler was an evil man, and that his religion was irrelevant to his malevolent personality.
In Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote fondly of his experiences in Church festivals, and as leader of the Nazi party made many references to the glory of Christianity in his speeches. Including making references to Jesus’ death at the hand of the Jews in an attempt to rile up anti-Semitic sentiment in his mostly religious audiences. He adopted many aspects of Catholic hierarchy, liturgy and symbolism, though he was very critical of Catholicism in private. In fact, Hitler favoured Protestantism, due to it being open to interpretation. He also ridiculed occultism and neo-Paganism that was relatively popular in Germany at the time.
Strangely enough, Hitler greatly admired the Muslim faith and tradition saying, “the Mohammedan religion too would have been much more compatible to us than Christianity. Why did it have to be Christianity with its meekness and flabbiness?”

2. Humans evolved from monkeys

One of the most common misconceptions about Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is that Darwin claimed we evolved from chimpanzees. Darwin never actually said this, nor will any respectable biologist. This myth was actually spread by religious zealots during the 19th century in order to try and discredit Darwin and promote anti-evolutionism among the religious. Humans and chimpanzees are actually cousins (we share about 94% of our DNA with them) and both evolved from a common ancestor, thought to be Sahelanthropus tchadensis, around 7 million years ago.

1. “Desserts”


‘Just desserts’? Does that even make sense in context? The correct phrase is actually ‘just deserts’, and don’t worry if you didn’t know that because you’re not alone, and the chances are that someone much more intelligent than you didn’t know it either. The reason for this misunderstanding comes from the rarely used noun form of the verb ‘to deserve’; something which is deserved is a ‘desert’ (pronounced dessert). It’s hard to tell when the usurpation of the original word was made, but it probably had something to do with witty restaurateurs naming their businesses ‘Just Desserts’ as a pun, and the phrase catching on as the original is forgotten.

source from listverse.com