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Word of the day this Friday the 13th: friggatriskaidekaphobia

It wouldn’t be a queer planet if we didn’t have odd information and the word of the day, friggatriskaidekaphobia, lives up to being odd and/ or queer.

So what is friggatriskaidekaphobia? It’s fitting that we introduce you to this world on Friday the 13th, because according to Wikipedia; friggatriskaidekaphobia is the fear of Friday the 13th:

The fear of Friday the 13th is called friggatriskaidekaphobia (Frigga being the name of the Norse goddess for whom “Friday” is named and triskaidekaphobia meaning fear of the number thirteen), or paraskevidekatriaphobia[1][2] a concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví (Παρασκευή, meaning “Friday”), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς, meaning “thirteen”) attached to phobía (φοβία, from phóbos, φόβος, meaning “fear”). The latter word was derived in 1911[citation needed] and first appeared in a mainstream source in 1953.[3]

Here are some other interesting facts about Friday the 13th that I picked up on Wikipedia as well.

  • In the Gregorian calendar, this day occurs at least once, but at most three times a year.
  • Any month’s thirteenth day will fall on a Friday if the month starts on a Sunday.
  • According to folklorists, there is no written evidence for a “Friday the 13th” superstition before the 19th century.

 

I hope you aren’t spooked too badly this Friday 13th!

 

Republican Presidential wannabe Rick Santorum’s connection to anal sex

Although Republican Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum isn’t leading the polls and doesn’t seem to be the GOP frontrunner by any means, his last name, “Santorum” is popular among search engines.  So why is everyone Binging or Googling “Santorum”?  That’s because if you do search for “Santorum” you’ll find the conservative Republican has some ties to anal sex.

In Google’s search results, for example, you’ll find that the first result for “Santorum” leads to spreadingsantorum.com.  Spreadingsantorum.com even falls higher than Rick Santorum’s wikipedia page and the official Santorum for President website, RickSantorum.com.

By clicking the link to spreadingsantorum.com, you’ll find the website provides you with the following definition of “Santorum”:

Santorum 1. The frothy mix of lube and fecal matter that is sometimes the byproduct of anal sex. 2. Senator Rick Santorum.

So how in the world did Rick Santorum’s last name turn into a “frothy mix of lube and fecal matter?”  You can thank the creator of the “It Gets Better Campaign”, Dan Savage.

Motherjones.com explains:

Santorum’s problem got its start back in 2003, when the then-senator from Pennsylvania compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia, saying the “definition of marriage” has never included “man on child, man on dog, or whatever the case may be.” The ensuing controversy prompted syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage, who’s gay, to start a contest, soliciting reader suggestions for slang terms to “memorialize the scandal.” The winner came up with the “frothy mixture” idea, Savage launched a website, and a meme was born. Even though mainstream news outlets would never link to it, Savage’s site rose in the Google rankings, thanks in part to bloggers who posted Santorum-related news on the site or linked to it from their blogs. Eventually it eclipsed Santorum’s own campaign site in search results; some observers even suggested it may have contributed to Santorum’s crushing 18-point defeat in his 2006 campaign against Bob Casey.

Dan Savage says his website defining “Santorum” hasn’t been updated in a while, however, it still show up as the first result when you google “Santorum” and it is on the first page of results if you type “Santorum” into Bing.

The term “Santorum” has actually be picked up by the Urban Dictionary which definies the term as:

The sometimes frothy, usually slimy, amalgam of lubricant, stray fecal matter, and ejaculate that leaks out of the receiving partner’s anus after a session of anal intercourse. Named, by popular demand and usage, after legislator Rick Santorum because of his homophobic political statements.
The Urban Dictionary even uses Santorum in a sentence for those who don’t get it:
“That move was about as slick as santorum!”
It seems like Rick Santorum is knee deep in santorum, and his chances of getting out of this one are almost as likely as his chances of becoming President.

Mother says her teen son masturbated to death

Not to be insensitive, but now I may have heard it all. I’ll let the folks at Newspitter.com tell the story in an attempt to maintain professionalism.

From Newspitter.com dated October 12th:

Tragedy struck the inhabitants of Rubiataba Brazil, in the interior of Goiás. A 16 year old teenager died after masturbating 42 times non-stop. According to testimony from his mother, he started around midnight and spent all night masturbating continuously. He would ‘finish’ one and start the next.

The mother’s minor was worried about his urge to masturbate – “He did it hour after hour, I had already scheduled an appointment with a doctor”, she said.

On his school his mates paid his respects. A girl in his class, though, speaking to G17, said he often asked her to share webcam at midnight (Now, why would she do that…).

The teenager’s computer had around 17 million videos and 600 million erotic pictures.

I can’t help but wonder how the teenager’s mother knew that he masturbated exactly 42 times and how she knew the exact time he started.  It seems to me that there is a bit of investigating to do by the cops following this reported death by masturbation.

Things that make you go hmmm… Can Sarah Palin really see Russia from her home in Alaska?

Can Sarah Palin really see Russia from her home in Alaska?

No.  Sarah Palin can not see any part of Russian land from her house in Alaska, that is unless she’s watching TV, looking at a picture or maybe on a globe.  However, Palin actually never claimed to be able to see Russia from her house.  It was actually Tina Fey who made that statement while she was playing Palin in a Saturday Night Live skit.

However, there are some places in Alaska where you can actually see Russia.  Alaska and Russia are seperated by the Bering Strait.  At the most narrow portion, pnly 55 miles seperates Russia from Alaska.  It might be a stretch to catch a glimpse of Russia while standing in Alaska there, but there are two small islands located within that body of water.  The Little Diomede is in Alaska and the Big Diomede is in Russia.  With only 2.5 miles separating the two, it is possible to see to from one to the other.  Here’s the view from Alaska to Russia:

Even more interesting, looking at the Big Diomede from the Little Diomede is like looking into the future.  That’s because the Big Diomede is on the other side of the International date line making it hours ahead of the Little Diomede!

It was, however, the proximity of these to Islands that Sarah Palin used to explain her experience in foreign affairs.  Ms. Palin told ABC’s Charlie Gibson that she had experience working with foreign leaders since you could see Russia from Alaska.

 

 

 

 

Things that make you go hmmm… is there really an ingredient in turkey that makes people sleepy?

Today’s installment of “Things that make you go hmmm…” hopes to answer the age old Thanksgiving question…. “Does turkey really contain an ingredient that makes you sleeping after eating it?

Here’s the answer to that question compliments of the folks at about.com:

Unless a microwave dinner is your idea of a Thanksgiving feast, you probably have had firsthand experience with the after-dinner fatigue that sets in after the meal. Why do you want a nap? To escape the dishes? Perhaps, but the meal itself plays a big part in the way you feel.

The turkey is often cited as the culprit in after dinner lethargy, but the truth is that you could omit the bird altogether and still feel the effects of the feast. Turkey does contain L-tryptophan, an essential amino acid with a documented sleep inducing effect. L-tryptophan is used in the body to produce the B-vitamin, niacin. Tryptophan also can be metabolized into serotonin and melatonin, neurotransmitters that exert a calming effect and regulates sleep. However, L-tryptophan needs to be taken on an empty stomach and without any other amino acids or protein in order to make you drowsy. There’s lots of protein in a serving of turkey and it’s probably not the only food on the table.

It’s worth noting that other foods contain as much or more tryptophan than turkey (0.333 g of tryptophan per 100 gram edible portion), including chicken (0.292 g of tryptophan per 100 gram edible portion), pork, and cheese. As with turkey, other amino acids are present in these foods besides tryptophan, so they don’t make you sleepy.

So while it might not be the turkey that makes you pass out at the end of the day, you probably don’t want to stuff yourself with too much of anything else either.  It might just be that eating so much food can just wear people out!

If you want to learn more about nutrition, a nutrition degree online may
be an option for you.

The top 25 worst passwords of the year are…

You might want to check this list then change some of your passwords that you use to protect your accounts…. especially if your password is password.  T hat’s because according to recent study.

Others on the list included 123456, qwerty and monkey.  I’m not sure why so many people would use the word monkey… that’s kinda queer!

Here are the 25 Words Password of 2011 according to online hackers.  According to Masable.com, SplashData created the following rankings based on millions of stolen passwords posted online by hackers.

Here is the complete list:

  • 1. password
  • 2. 123456
  • 3.12345678
  • 4. qwerty
  • 5. abc123
  • 6. monkey
  • 7. 1234567
  • 8. letmein
  • 9. trustno1
  • 10. dragon
  • 11. baseball
  • 12. 111111
  • 13. iloveyou
  • 14. master
  • 15. sunshine
  • 16. ashley
  • 17. bailey
  • 18. passw0rd
  • 19. shadow
  • 20. 123123
  • 21. 654321
  • 22. superman
  • 23. qazwsx
  • 24. michael
  • 25. football
Security professionals say they most protective passwords are generally multiple words or ocmplete sentences and should contain a variety of characters such as a combination of numbers, letters and punctiation.  Sentences that are hard to guess are also reccommended.
If a password, or PIN, can only require numbers then experts discourage using your birthday or someone else’s birthday.  Those are generally the most guessed.

Things that make you go hmmm… Does the human body really lose 21 grams at the time of death? If so, what is it? where does it go?


[Editor's Note: This is our first installment of our first regular column here at the new queerplanet.net.  "Things that make you go hmmm..." is a chance to answer some of those question that you can't typically find or to settle a debate between you and someone you know.

If you've got a question that you want us to try and answer or a queer fact that you want to share, then e-mail us at hmmm@queerplanet.net.  We'll feature the best questions or most interesting facts here at queerplanet.net with the rest of our abnormal news and world wide weirdness. Now, here's our first installment of "Things that make you go hmmm..."]

Question:  Does the human body really lose 21 grams at the time of death?  If so, where does it go?

Answer:  This seems to be one of those controversial tidbits that leaves us guessing.  Evidently, there have been several studies that show the body does loose up to 21 grams at the time of death.  The hard part is explaining what those 21 grams are and where they go.  Many people seem to have accepted the fact that this is the human soul, and that it instantly leaves your body upon death.

There was even a movie made about this question in 2003 called “21 Gramm.”

Here’s more from ABC Science:

People have believed that the “soul” has a definite physical presence for hundreds, and possibly thousands, of years. But it was only as recently as 1907, that a certain Dr. Duncan MacDougall of Haverhill in Massachusetts actually tried to weigh this soul. In his office, he had a special bed “arranged on a light framework built upon very delicately balanced platform beam scales” that he claimed were accurate to two-tenths of an ounce (around 5.6 grams). Knowing that a dying person might thrash around and upset such delicate scales, he decided to “select a patient dying with a disease that produces great exhaustion, the death occurring with little or no muscular movement, because in such a case, the beam could be kept more perfectly at balance and any loss occurring readily noted”.

He recruited six terminally-ill people, and according to his paper in the April 1907 edition of the journal American Medicine, he measured a weight loss, which he claimed was associated with the soul leaving the body. In this paper, he wrote from beside the special bed of one of his patients, that “at the end of three hours and 40 minutes he expired and suddenly coincident with death the beam end dropped with an audible stroke hitting against the lower limiting bar and remaining there with no rebound. The loss was ascertained to be three fourths of an ounce.”

He was even more encouraged when he repeated his experiment with 15 dogs, which registered no change in weight in their moment of death. This fitted in perfectly with the popular belief that a dog had no soul, and therefore would register no loss of weight at the moment of demise.

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