$315 Billion Dollars Skyscraper and you

$315 Billion Dollars Skyscraper and you

This batty bulk of money is absurd for anyone to visualize. Let's take a look, starting with the one dollar ... it's almost 6 inches long, and 2½ inches wide. It's almost as blubbery as an approved section of paper. Now we will abide to accomplish brainstorming and vizualize beyond and beyond pictures, with added and added money, and at the end I'm abiding that you will be afraid by these "mountains" of money, millions, billions. So if you are traveling to acquire so abundant money you'll charge some big deposits if you would like to accumulate them.

Weirdest Laws from around the World Compiled

Top 10 Weird laws of the world

Weird laws that have to really suck.

Number 10: Most Middle Eastern countries recognize the following Islamic law: "After having sexual relations with a lamb, it is a mortal sin to eat its flesh." (umm OK, I’m sure the lamb appreciates that one)

Number 9: In Lebanon, men are legally allowed to have sex with animals, but the animals must be female. Having sexual relations with a male animal is punishable by death. (OK, like THAT makes sense...)

Number 8: In Bahrain, a male doctor may legally examine a woman’s genitals, but is forbidden from looking directly at them during the examination. He may only see their reflection in a mirror. (Ouch!)

Number 7: Muslims are banned from looking at the genitals of a corpse. This also applies to undertakers; the sex organs of the deceased must be covered with a brick or a piece of wood at all times. (...a brick?)

Number 6: The penalty for masturbation in Indonesia is capitation. (Wonder how they enforce that one?)

Number 5: There are men in Guam whose full-time job is to travel the countryside and deflower young virgins, who pay them for the privilege of having sex for the first time. Reason: under Guam law, it is expressly forbidden for virgins to marry. (Now let’s just think for a minute...is there any job anywhere else in the world that even comes close to this?)

Number 4: In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands. (The husband’s lover, on the other hand, may be killed in any manner desired. COOL)

Number 3: Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores. (Of course!)

Number 2: In Santa Cruz, Bolivia it is illegal for a man to have sex with a woman and her daughter at the same time. (We have to presume this was a big enough problem that they had to pass this law...)

And the wierdest law in the world is...

In Cali, Colombia, a woman may only have sex with her husband, and the first time this happens her mother must be in the room to witness the act. (I shudder at the thought. How many of us would be virgins today?)

By Ryan Burnham

Weird Conference draws those seeking a ghost of a chance

Weird Conference draws those seeking a ghost of a chance

Things that go bump in the night came out to play in the day – at least that's what visitors hoped for, Friday and Saturday at Ghost Rush 2008. The American Paranormal Investigations-sponsored conference focused on ghosts, phantom noises, strange temperature changes and weird, seemingly invisible movements.

Stationed at the historic St. George Hotel in Volcano, a tiny Gold Rush town nearly 60 miles outside of Sacramento, API founder Dave Bender watched as a group of paranormal experts, including "debunkers," "sensitives" and psychics – joined approximately 53 ghost buffs to discuss how technology combined with a bone-chilling gut reaction can pinpoint the presence of a spirit.

"It really is a scientific process," Bender, 36, said. "We utilize equipment, take readings and try to find, first, if there's a plausible explanation for what's going on."


The St. George Hotel, long believed to shelter myriad ghosts, is the ideal location, Bender said.

"Volcano, Placerville, Coloma – all these Gold Rush towns hold a lot of history," Bender said.

Bender launched the API in 2001 as a way to expand upon his paranormal interests. Now, the Sacramento-based group investigates approximately 100 cases each year, going into homes and businesses to explore hard-to-explain occurrences.

Armed with camcorders, digital audio recorders, electromagnetic field detectors and Geiger counters used to detect radiation, investigators gather evidence while a "debunker" tries to discern a plausible explanation for every last bump, shadow and hint of ghostly chatter.

Debunking the presence of a ghost is just as important as proving it, Bender said. Once you've dismissed any credible explanations, it's easier to focus on what is – or isn't – in front of you.

"A lot of people don't believe in this – they think it's too hard to prove the paranormal," he said. "But it's a very personal thing, and you and I might experience it very differently."

For Jason Lindo, a 48-year-old Sacramento "sensitive," that experience is purely physical.

"Sometimes I'll feel a compression in my chest – like an energy that's starting to build," he said. "Or sometimes it's a chill or (I'll hear) a voice."

So, has Lindo sensed an otherworldly presence here?

Yes – just not today. Yet.

"I came through here earlier when we were scouting a conference location," he said. "Then, I could feel an older gentleman and a young girl. Later I learned that a lot of the visitors at this hotel have also seen them."

Now, Lindo's still waiting for another encounter. He's confident they'll show up. It's just a matter of focus as well as the right ghost at the right time.

"There are a lot of people here right now stirring up the energy and the (ghosts) who want to be seen – the divas and the drama queens – will make their presence known."

Suzanne Briscoe is waiting. The 58-year-old Salt Lake City resident journeyed here with friends for the chance to encounter a spirit.

"I keep waiting for my husband to show up," she said, laughing. "But nobody's tapped me on the shoulder yet."

If that does happen, Briscoe said, she's ready to embrace the hard-to-believe.

"You have to be open-minded because sometimes you're just not sure what to believe," she said.

So far, she added, the conference experience has been refreshingly "normal."

"The people here aren't goofy or weird – no one's running around in turbans or flowing gowns," she said. "It's just a bunch of normal people interested in the same thing."

Her pal, 66-year-old Joyce Carter, sees it this way:

"I'm just enjoying my time here, going to the workshops and learning," Carter said. "I don't know if I totally believe in all this stuff – but then again, I don't know if I totally doubt it either."

About the writer:

* Call The Bee's Rachel Leibrock, (916) 321-1176.

Weird Furious electro-dance style sweeps France

Weird Furious electro-dance style sweeps France

PARIS (Billboard) - Enter any nightclub in Paris right now, and chances are you'll bump into a group of weird-looking teenagers, seemingly trying to rip their own heads off. If so, don't worry -- you have just entered the world of Tecktonik.

This electro-dance scene was born in 2000 at Paris nightclub Metropolis, and has gradually become an all-encompassing teenage lifestyle, incorporating a highly distinctive dance and dress code (skinny-fit trousers and tight T-shirts, Day-Glo colors and punk-inspired spiky haircuts). It's now ubiquitous in France: on TV, in newspapers and magazines, in discos, even in schools.

EMI France international development director Laurence Muller compares it to hip-hop.

"It involves fashion, visuals, music and dance," he says, "with maybe graphic arts a bit behind."

Reuters Photo:
A man is seen with a 'Tecktonik' hairstyle in a hairdressing salon in Paris March...

It's also a brand in the purest sense of the word. "Tecktonik" and "TCK" are official trademarks, owned by Cyril Blanc and Alexandre Barouzdin, the two electro dancers who, eight years ago, launched Tecktonik Killer club nights, which mixed various electronic music styles with synthesized, repetitive voices and a high beats-per-minute rate.

"At first, we protected the name to prevent other nightclubs (from) advertising Tecktonik nights," Barouzdin says. "We did not mean to create a brand."

Now, however, a mind-boggling range of official Tecktonik products are available: from music compilations and a Sony Ericsson mobile handset (due in April) to clothes, jewelry, an energy drink and even two official hair salons.

DANCE FEVER

Blanc and Barouzdin also initiated the dance with exaggerated arm and head gestures, which spread through battles at Metropolis and then online, when dancers started posting their performances on video-sharing sites including YouTube, Dailymotion and Skyblog.

"Tecktonik videos are among the most-watched on our service," Dailymotion content director Martin Rogard says. He says traffic first spiked in March 2007 and then exploded with the release of Mondotek's hit "Alive" (Mercury/Universal) in November. The official posting of the "Alive" video alone has attracted more than 1.9 million views.

Around the same time, mainstream pop artists Lorie and Yelle incorporated the dance into their videos as Tecktonik hit the mainstream.

Unlike many musical movements, Tecktonik takes a stance against drugs and alcohol. Frederic Pau, program director of No. 1 France music radio network NRJ, praises it as "a healthy movement, with a good spirit." NRJ is organizing a Tecktonik tour, expected this summer.

Barouzdin and Blanc, who decline to reveal financial details, have licensed their brand worldwide to EMI Music France for music-related products. TF1 Enterprises -- a division of leading French TV channel TF1 -- acts as Tecktonik's agent for distribution licenses for other products.

INTERNATIONAL INTEREST

EMI France says its latest genre compilation, "Tecktonik/Vol. 4," is the most successful yet. The album, featuring such local acts as Hardrox and Dim Chris alongside international DJ/mixers including U.S.-based Robbie Rivera and Italy's Paolo Bolognesi, has shipped more than 230,000 copies since its December release, according to EMI. "Vol. 5" is due April 21 and will include a DVD featuring dance tips.

But despite the trademark protection for the Tecktonik name, the popularity of the movement has inspired other labels to release their own electro-dance compilations targeting Tecktonik fans.

"We don't need the word 'Tecktonik,"' says Philippe Solas, marketing director at Mercury France, which released Mondotek's "Alive." "(The style of) dance says enough by itself."

Barouzdin remains sanguine about the competition.

"Successes such as Mondotek help the movement live," he says. "The brand Tecktonik is just a quality label."

He also has plans to help the Tecktonik eagle symbol spread its wings internationally. Tecktonik Killer nights have already taken place in Morocco, Belgium and Switzerland; there are negotiations for events in Hungary, Russia and Japan.

Meanwhile, "Tecktonik/Vol. 4" has been rolling out internationally since February 18, and international artists are showing interest. Moby's single "Disco Lies" (Mute) was remixed by Tecktonik DJ Dim Chris, while a video shot by Dailymotion shows Janet Jackson discovering the dance.

"We have made her choreography proposals," says Barouzdin, who also claims interest from Kanye West and Madonna.

Pau has no doubt the movement will eventually catch on globally.

"All it needs," he says, "is one international artist or DJ to embrace it."

Reuters/Billboard