Selfridge’s in London have already opened their Christmas department, and M&S have their Christmas hampers page up and touting for business, snow covered pine trees and all. It all makes sense, even if it is a bit depressing, people need to plan ahead far in advance, especially for pricey events like Christmas.

Just spare a thought for the poor people who work in retail. It can’t be long now before the dreaded Christmas mix-tape is sent out from head office to be played on a never ending loop until it is time for the sales. How many times do you think you could hear a low rent cover version of that Slade song before it drove you crazy? Maybe you remember back in 2004 an Austrian labour group called the endless playing of Christmas music a ‘psychological terror’ and pleaded with employers to limit it to just a few hours a day… whether the were listened to is doubtful, must retail managers would probably be happy to run with the Guantanamo Bay vibe and waterboard their staff if they got a memo from head office telling them to…

1. Bull
The last post on here was about miniature cattle, so it is fitting that the first item on the list should be the World’s largest bull. This thing is massive, and it would a be a very brave Spaniard who would step into the ring with this beast instead of  saying “Aurochs to that!”:

2. Commercial airliner
The largest commercial airliner is the Airbus A380. This thing is so huge that it can’t land at most airports, only a few have runways that are long enough for this behemoth. These things will shortly begin making regular flights to Manchester from Dubai, so you can check them out in either of those contrasting places…

3. Motorcycle
Japanese and Italian superbike manufacturers may dominate the racing world with their insanely fast ‘crotch rockets’ but the Americans know that is the ‘chopper‘ that best encapsulates the freedom of the open road. Even at their smallest these bikes are big, their long front forks stretching into the horizon. There is a bike that is every inch on 15 feet high and 25 feet long. It is an imposing sight, the effect spoilt only slightly by the fact that it has to have stabilisers…

Producing meat has several environmental consequences. The resources needed to produce meat are much greater than other foodstuffs. It has been claimed that in order to produce a ton of potatoes about 160 cubic metres of water will be needed. In contrast to this,in order to produce a ton of beef about 16726 cubic metres of water will be needed.

Livestock are also responsible for CO2 emissions. There is a debate about the degree to which human activities such as farming impact on climate change, but many accept we should do what we can to reduce emissions. Stopping eating beef would seem to be rational move. There is however one big problem with that: beef is delicious.

Yum, beef.

As the above illustration amply demonstrates, not eating beef is not a palatable option. Fortunately there may be another answer: smaller cows. Apparently the bite-sized bovines that have been bred are better for the environment. They use less resources and crucially emit less CO2. Food for thought. Anyway here is a video of some dude with his little cows:

Because of the scale of the disaster the response of the Pakistani government has come under criticism for not being enough. A lot of problems have been caused by the washing away of infrastructure such as roads and bridges meaning that it is very difficult to get help where it is needed. Other national governments have pledged help. These include China, the USA and the UK.

It is clear that whatever government bodies do, it is unlikely to meet the needs of the millions of Pakistanis who have had their worlds turned upside down. The sheer area that is affected means that non-governmental aid organisations are going to be essential in providing essentials such as drinking water to those who need it.

This is the worst flooding in living memory and it’s likely to get worse as rivers and dams reach dangerous levels. Whole villages have been swept away and villages south of the devastated area in Sindh may be hit in the coming days.

Huge swathes of the country are under an ocean of contaminated water. The risk of water-borne disease is high if we do not act fast. We are going to be providing hundreds of thousands of people with clean water and building emergency toilets. We are moving fast with supplies we had ready for such an emergency in-country.”Neva Khan, Oxfam’s Pakistan Director

Oxfam have a long history of working in Pakistan, so they could be a good choice for people who want to do their bit and make Pakistan flood donations. What is good about Oxfam is that they are being upfront with just what donations will be paying for:

£12 will buy one family hygiene kit (soap, washing powder, sanitary cloths, towels, oral rehydration salts, nail cutter/comb

£14 will buy one family household kit (plastic bucket, water cooler, floor mats, waste bin, shawls, water purification)

£46 will buy tools for clearing up (shovel, pick axe, bucket, broom, wheel barrow)”

Goldline International retail gold, and are major sponsors of Glenn Beck. Certainly Beck seems admirably convinced of the merits of purchasing gold as an investment and of the trustworthiness of his sponsors in particular. Here is a video of Beck personally endorsing Goldline in a TV commercial:

Here is Beck extolling the virtues of Gold as a prudent hedge against hyper-inflation. He also implies that there may be a danger of this occurring with the US dollar, much as occured in Germany after the end of WWI:

While corporations have access to a treasury management system and modern miracles as eBAM, the individual has to make investment decisions based on much less information. The thoughts and opinions expressed on America’s most trusted news outlet can carry a lot of weight. Beck recommends gold, and antique gold coins in particular.

Authorities in South California are investigating the sales strategy of Goldline for possible impropriety. The allegations stem from the endorsements Beck has been giving to antique coins in particular. The profit margin on these is many times greater than for bullion or newly minted gold coins such as the American Gold Eagle or the Kruggerand. These coins do not have ‘intrinsic value’ meaning what they are worth is their weight in gold and no more, meaning that in the event of a financial crash they can be melted down and sold. This is not true of antique coins, which are ‘numismatic’ to one degree or another.

Here is an infographic that explains the case being made by liberals over the Goldline affair. Beck’s critics should be aware that he is not afraid to stand up for himself. In 2009 Glenn Beck resorted to legal action to silence persistent questions as to whether he had raped and murdered a young girl in 1990.

Traveling can be a hassle, whether it is business or a holiday – things that make the process that little bit more bearable have to be a good thing. The core of what airport lounges offer is somewhere a bit nicer to sit while you wait for your flight. Terminals can be overcrowded and on the uncomfortable side, especially if your flight is delayed and you have to wait around.

Lounges tend to focus on the business customer with facilities such as fax machines and Internet access commonly available. TVs, games consoles and complimentary magazines and newspapers are on hand to occupy those not glued to their laptops. The real kicker though is the complementary food and drink.

Food and drink in airports is very expensive. If you are spending two or three hours in an airport before a flight you can easily rack up quite a bill if you want to eat and drink, and as eating drinking and shopping are the only diversions its hard not to.The food in most lounges tends to be limited to snacks, and the drinks included usually do not include champagne, but you can have as much as you like.

Probably the most luxurious lounge operated in Britain was opened last year by Etihad at London’s Heathrow airport. Passengers waiting for their flights to Abu Dhabi will enjoy a mind boggling level of luxury. This stretches even to having a spa offering facials and massages! Of course the catering gores beyond a few crisps in a bowl as well, with 5-star dining facilities offering food from around the world.

Credit: Ed Yourdon

Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center have conducted an extensive investigation into the relationship between sporting performance at various levels and drinking sports drinks. What they found runs quite contrary to the message that the drinks companies want to put out.

For short periods of exercise or the kind that people would normally engage in, absolutely no benefit was found to be conferred to those who drank sports drinks rather than water. The scientists also found that for most people normal dietary sources would provide all of the trace sodium and potassium needed, without the pricey drinks.

Some sports drinks are geared towards recovery. The study found that these too would be largely unnecessary for most. Recovery focused drinks provide carbohydrates, electrolytes and also protein.  While all these things are needed by the body to recover from exercise the best way for these to be delivered is in the form of a post training meal.

The study did find however that sports drinks provided a legitimate benefit to certain groups. Those in training for endurance events such as the London Marathon could find that the use of sports drinks can help to “fill a gap” and provide a temporary boost. Essentially what the investigation concluded was that if you spend only a short time exercising you may as well just drink water.

The other group of people besides endurance athletes who can notice real advantages to drinking sports drinks as opposed to water are people who sweat a lot and whose sweat is particularly salty. You can tell if you are one of these people if you have lots of dried salt on your skin after you finish a workout. Having your sodium levels topped up if you are amongst this group can help keep you properly hydrated.

This was certainly a thorough study. It looked at many different levels of physical activity and also at different brands of sports drink. There was however one glaring omission in terms of the areas in which sports drinks really can help. That is of course the field of hangover recovery. Doubtless these sports scientist types don’t have to regularly deal with mornings after nights of massive alcohol abuse. For the rest of us drinks like Gatorade are a magical elixir that can even make dragging ourselves into work possible…

That is why this video is good. It cuts through the BS and delivers a message without itself being lame.  It also manages to be some thing that you might want to watch.

Does that not just look completely insane? It is probably actually a little more comfortable than bedding down on a narrow ledge of hard rock, but the ever present danger of one of the pins in the rock coming loose and sending you, the rest of the expedition and all your equipment plunging to your inevitable destruction might keep you awake!