When Did YOU Choose to be Straight?

Travis Nuckolls and Chris Baker take to the streets of Colorado Springs, asking strangers if they think being gay is a choice:

Stephen Hawking says universe not created by god

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing," he writes. "Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the universe exists, why we exist.

"It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the universe going."

Full article here.

In his latest book The Grand Design Hawking sets out to contest Sir Isaac Newton's belief that the universe could not have been created out of chaos.

Cookies are god's way of showing that he loves you

( via ) <-- You should follow. She is beyond awesome.

The most extensive collection of Hitler emoticons ever.

( via )

A Poker Player Plays Poker

(from e-mail)

Two couples were playing poker one evening. Jim accidentally dropped some cards on the floor.. When he bent down under the table to pick them up, he noticed Bob's wife , Sue, wasn't wearing any underwear under her dress! Shocked by this, Jim upon trying to sit back up again, hit his head on the table and emerged red-faced.

Later, Jim went to the kitchen to get some refreshments. Bob's wife followed and asked: 'Did you see anything that you like under there?' Surprised by her boldness, Jim admitted that, well indeed he did. She said: 'Well, you can have it, but it will cost you $500.'

After taking a minute or two to assess the financial and moral costs of this offer, Jim confirms that he is interested.

Sue told him that since her husband Bob worked Friday afternoons and Jim didn't, Jim should be at her house around 2pm Friday afternoon.

When Friday rolled around, Jim showed up at Bob's house at 2pm sharp and after paying Sue the agreed sum of $500 - they went to the bedroom and closed their transaction, as agreed.

Jim quickly dressed and left.

As usual, Bob came home from work at 6pm and upon arriving, asked his wife: 'Did Jim come by the house this afternoon?'

With a lump in her throat Sue answered: 'Why yes, he did stop by for a few minutes this afternoon.' Her heart nearly skipped a beat when her husband curtly asked: 'And did he give you $500?'

Sue, using her best poker face, replied: 'Well, yes, in fact he did give me $500.'

Bob, with a satisfied look on his face, surprised his wife by saying: 'He came by the office this morning and borrowed $500 from me. He promised he'd stop by our house this afternoon on his way home and pay me back.'

Now THAT, my friends, is a poker player.

Same-sex marriage

From Boston.com:

This afternoon, Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker will publish his decision on whether to uphold or overturn the California voter-approved ban known as Proposition 8 (or the California Marriage Protection Act) that would insert language into the state constitution saying that "only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California." Walker's ruling is one of a number of recent decisions made by voters and governments around the world affecting the ability of same-sex couples to marry legally. Around the U.S., several states are challenging the 1996 Defense of Marriage act, both Washington DC and Mexico City legalized same-sex weddings last March, and on July 15th, Argentina became the first Latin American country to recognize same-sex marriage. 

I've handpicked some of my favourite pictures from the article. (go here to see all 26 beautiful photographs)

Protect the women we care about

Being genetically male does not mean I can't talk about cervical cancer. I have a wife, a mother, grandmothers, aunts, grandaunts, cousins, and perhaps someday, daughters. All are women or soon to be women that I care very deeply about.

Having lost two aunts to different types of cancers, I'd say I know firsthand that prevention is better than cure. Incidentally, did you know cervical cancer is the only preventable women's cancer?

Wikipedia gives its usual scientific explanation, but here's the plain English version by Monoxious:

Cancer doesn’t discriminate, it doesn’t affect you based on your skin colour, how rich or poor you are or even how old you are. So if you think that cancer won’t affect you or your loved ones, think again.
Here are some hard facts about Cervical Cancer:

• Cervical cancer refers to cancer originating from the cervix, which is the lower part of the womb (uterus).
• It is the 6th most common cancer amongst women in Singapore.
• It’s caused by human papillomavirus (HPV).
• It can take anytime from 10-20 years to develop but before that, pre-cancer cells develop and CAN be detected by a Pap smear.
• Lifestyle habits like smoking can increase the possibility of you contracting cervical cancer up to 10 times!!!
• Cervical cancer can be treated if detected early.

So what can we do about it? Sign up for a pap smear & HPV vaccination, ladies.

Gentlemen? Get the lady you care about to go for a pap smear. It's that simple.

If you go to a polyclinic in Singapore, it's heavily subsidised for Singaporeans. (In Malaysia, Japan, and Australia it's free.)

If you need to know more, POCC (Power Over Cervical Cancer, a Singapore initiative) has launched a very informative website at http://www.pocc.sg

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A little background:
Power Over Cervical Cancer is a campaign that aims to make Singapore the country with the lowest incidence of Cervical Cancer and they need your help to spread the word.

Pledge your support for this cause and protect those you care about by telling them about Cervical Cancer. Together, we have POWER Over Cervical Cancer.

Click the button below to begin!