ANOTHER COUNTRY BLOG - English Bookshop, Library & Club (Berlin, Kreuzberg)

Gender Bender To The Max!

cherry_cola — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:39:21 GMT

The first person legally classified as gender neutral has a video about feeling free.

Half-Hen/Half-Rooster Shows Cells Can Decide Sex

cherry_cola — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:50:31 GMT

So which came first... the chicken or the egg?

www.npr.org

March 11, 2010

Scottish scientists have learned some important lessons about sex determination by studying some peculiar chickens. Really peculiar chickens.

But please take this survey before you read on. We'd like to know how much you know about sex. The question we pose to you: Do women have gonads?

If you want instant gratification, the answer to the question is at the bottom of this page. Or read on and the answer will be clear.

Gender-Bending Chickens

OK, back to the chickens. Michael Clinton of the University of Edinburgh studies these peculiar chickens, called "gynandromorphs." They're split down the middle: One side looks male; the other side, female. Clinton wanted to know how this happened.

Like humans, chickens have male and female sex chromosomes. And these sex chromosomes tell a chicken which one to be.

"Sex chromosomes determine whatever gonad forms," says Clinton. So male sex chromosomes tell the gonads to be testes, and female sex chromosomes tell them to be ovaries, and then "the hormones produced by the gonad define what the individual looks like."

When he started studying the half-and-half birds, Clinton figured there would have been some weird chromosomal abnormality so the gonads would send out scrambled hormonal signals.

But that turned out to be wrong. The chickens were a mix of male and female cells. And it was the cells, not the hormones, that seemed to be calling the shots.

"It's a really unscientific way of putting it but it seems that these cells know whether they are male or female," says Clinton.

Normally, chickens have only male or female cells, but not both. Clinton says chickens with this mix of cells are rare, but maybe not as rare as people think. "If they are the same color, for example, you might think well, that's a funny-looking chicken. But you wouldn't think it's half-male and half-female," he says.

Clinton reports his chicken study in today's issue of the journal Nature.

Cells Know What Sex To Be

Arthur Arnold of the University of California, Los Angeles says Clinton's work raises a fundamental question about how animals, and the cells that make up the animal, know what sex to be when they grow up.

"Is that sex imposed on it from hormonal signals coming from the outside of the cell, or from signals coming from within the cells from its own genome? And the answer is: It's both," says Arnold.

Up until now, scientists who study sexual development assumed that in birds and mammals hormones were by far the more important signal. But the chicken study puts that in doubt.

"Maybe this is something that's specific to chickens or to vertebrates other than mammals. It's not clear yet," says Blanche Capel, a developmental biologist at Duke University. She says it shouldn't be all that surprising that signals other than hormones may be important. She studies turtles, and they use temperature to determine which sex to be.

"There are many, many variations on the mechanisms that control sex determination, and many different animals do it in completely different ways.

And the answer to our quiz question: Yes, females have gonads. They're called ovaries. In males, they're called testes. Did you know that already?

NO MORE FUNTS

bookbasher — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:57:26 GMT

The Funts, the Fucking Cunts, have disbanded. Due to artistic differences, personal problems, psychiatric problems, and feminine issues. Sorry, you fucking cunts. But no more.

On the upside, some of the uglier members have reformed a new group, called simply:
LOUD AMERICANS

The first show will be this Saturday in Xberg. Anyone can join, so long as you're loud and American. Or transgender, because those folks don't need to be loud to get attention.

To join, just stalk us and grab a mic at the next show listed on the myspace page:

myspace.com/loudamericans

School Peeping Tom...

cherry_cola — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:32:35 GMT

(CBS/ AP) The family that sued to get a suburban Pennsylvania school district to stop secretly viewing students at home via webcams on school-issued laptops is blasting the practice, though it's been halted.

Officials of the Lower Merion School District, outside Philadelphia, acknowledged Friday that they remotely activated webcams 42 times in the past 14 months, but only to find missing laptops given to students. They insist they never did so to spy on students, as the family claimed in the federal lawsuit.

The district has suspended the practice amid the lawsuit and the accompanying uproar from students, the community and privacy advocates.

And the family's lawyer, Mark Haltzman, told "Early Show Saturday Edition" co-anchor Erica Hill he's been informed the FBI has opened a criminal investigation of the webcam use. A source tells The Associated Press the bureau is exploring whether the district broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws.

Hill says school officials haven't responded to a request from CBS News for reaction to word of the FBI probe.

Haltzman says the family filed suit only to get the remote webam use stopped.

Blake Robbins, the teen at the center of the controversy, told Hill it all began when Harriton High School administrators falsely accused him of selling drugs and taking pills, then said they had webcam images to prove it.

Blake's mother, Holly Robbins, says she "was panicked" when she learned what was going on. "I thought this was just horrifying, that somebody could, especially the school, come into my home and spy on my son. And my daughter. She's 18 years old. And it was scary. It was like having a Peeping Tom."

Blake's sister, Paige Robbins, told Hill she "can say that on behalf of all of my girl friends at Harriton, we were very scared, because we don't check to see if the lid is closed when we're changing. We take them in the bathroom when we're in the shower to listen to music. So, we're all petrified. We don't know who's on the other end watching us do whatever."

His father, Michael Robbins, says he's taking a wait-and-see approach before declaring himself satisfied with the district's response to the lawsuit - wanting.

Hunter S. Thompson on Nixon, etc.:

cherry_cola — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:08:50 GMT

Gotta love this:

"If the right people had been in charge of Nixon's funeral, his casket would have been launched into one of those open-sewage canals that empty into the ocean just south of Los Angeles. He was a swine of a man and a jabbering dupe of a president. Nixon was so crooked that he needed servants to help him screw his pants on every morning. Even his funeral was illegal. He was queer in the deepest way. His body should have been burned in a trash bin."
...
"Let there be no mistake in the history books about that. Richard Nixon was an evil man -- evil in a way that only those who believe in the physical reality of the Devil can understand it. He was utterly without ethics or morals or any bedrock sense of decency."
...
"He was not only a crook but a fool. Two years after he quit, he told a TV journalist that "if the president does it, it can't be illegal."
Shit. Not even Spiro Agnew was that dumb. He was a flat-out, knee-crawling thug with the morals of a weasel on speed."
...
"Nixon's spirit will be with us for the rest of our lives -- whether you're me or Bill Clinton or you or Kurt Cobain or Bishop Tutu or Keith Richards or Amy Fisher or Boris Yeltsin's daughter or your fiancee's 16-year-old beer-drunk brother with his braided goatee and his whole life like a thundercloud out in front of him. This is not a generational thing. You don't even have to know who Richard Nixon was to be a victim of his ugly, Nazi spirit. He has poisoned our water forever. Nixon will be remembered as a classic case of a smart man shitting in his own nest."

www.theatlantic.com

It gets better:

"Richard Nixon looks like a flaming liberal today, compared to a golem like George Bush. Indeed. Where is Richard Nixon now that we finally need him?"

"Nixon was a professional politician, and I despised everything he stood for -- but if he were running for president this year against the evil Bush-Cheney gang, I would happily vote for him."

And finally, one quick blurb on GW Bush:
"Bush is a natural-born loser with a filthy-rich daddy who pimped his son out to rich oil-mongers. He hates music, football and sex, in no particular order, and he is no fun at all."

Gone are the days of making fun of Dubya...
...well, not completely gone.

Infomercials with Alexander Haig

cherry_cola — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:43:58 GMT

Sure gonna miss this guy. He did SO much for the US & the whole world... not only when he cleaned up the mess as Chief of Staff at the end of Watergate, not just when Reagan was shot ("I'm in control here!"), but most recently when he was also concerned with the common American's battle with mold:
(sniff)

And yet another illustration of Mr. Haig's goodness, purity, decency &, one might even say "heroism," as he displays his deep concern over our personal security:

Speaking with the man who is "...always a pleasure & a delight..." Homeland Security Industries Association President, Bruce Aitken... "God bless our country, & you & yours." (huh?)

American Credit Cards

cherry_cola — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:33:33 GMT

Just FYI for those of you using American credit cards...
1) The new rules that are now taking effect, allow credit card companies to begin charging interest on purchases at the time of the transaction. So even if you normally pay your balance(s) every month, it is possible that you will be charged interest from the time of the transaction. Not all companies are doing this. Talk with your credit card company to find out.
2) There are several loopholes to the new rules. It is important to carefully & thoroughly read every single communication from your credit card company.
3) Many notifications from your credit card company will be sent in envelopes that deceptively resemble "junk mail." Don't throw away anything from your credit card company without reading it first.
4) There are no more restrictions on where fees can be charged. They will be charging more hidden fees than ever before.

There are several places online to find more information about this subject. It's important to stay well informed, though, because we are more at risk for being cheated now than before.

M m m m myyy Sharona

cherry_cola — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:59:46 GMT

Doug Fieger, lead singer of The Knack, died Sunday. He was 57.

That high, bird-like trilling sound coming from your TV...

cherry_cola — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:47:16 GMT

Kathryn Grayson died Wednesday at age 88.

Ms. Grayson always wanted to be an opera star, but was cast in MGM movies instead. It was said of Ms. Grayson when she was young, that if she becomes an opera singer, she will only be known to opera enthusiasts. But if she's in movies, she'll be known to the world.

War Criminals: Arrest Warrants Requested

cherry_cola — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:03:28 GMT

Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
Pravda
January 27, 2010
International arrest warrants have been requested for George W. Bush, Richard (Dick) Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, George Tenet, Condoleeza Rice and Alberto Gonzales at the International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands.

Professor of Law Francis A. Boyle of the University of Illinois College of Law in Champain, United States of America, has issued a Complaint with the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court against the above-mentioned for their practice of “extraordinary rendition” (forced disappearance of persons and subsequent torture) in Iraq and for criminal policy which constitutes Crimes against Humanity in violation of the Rome Statute which set up the ICC.

As such, the Accused (mentioned above) are deemed responsible for the commission of crimes within the territories of many States signatories of the Rome Statute, in violation of Rome Statute Articles 5 (1)(b), 7 (1)(a), 7 (1)(e), 7 (1)(g), 7(1)(h), 7(1)8i) and 7(1)(k). Despite the fact that the USA is not a signatory State, the ICC has the jurisdiction to prosecute under Article 12 (2)(a) of the Rome Statute.

This Article stipulates that the Court may exercise its jurisdiction if one or more States in which the conduct in question occurred has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court. Furthermore, the forced disappearance of persons and torture in deemed by the Rome Statute as a Crime against Humanity, one which is still ongoing.

The Exercise of Jurisdiction may be activated under Article 13, with respect to a crime committed under Article 5 if the Prosecutor has initiated an investigation. Professor Boyle, in his issue of complaint, respectfully requested that such an investigation be initiated.

The issue of complaint states “about 100 human beings have been subjected to enforced disappearances and subsequent torture by the Accused”, adds that some of them could still be alive today, and that an investigation could save these lives. Regarding those whose enforced disappearances led to their deaths, the Complaint requests a process of explanation and clarification for what would be a murder investigation.

Everything you ever wanted to know about Another Country

kdhm — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 14:31:42 GMT

Click Below and hit play ....
Mark von Schlegell on Another Country

January 24, 2010 Category: Berlin Stories

Contemporary writer Mark von Schlegell is a dual Irish and American citizen. He was born in New York and lives in Cologne, Germany. He is the author of the novels Venusia (2005) and Mercury Station (2009) published by M.I.T./Semiotext(e). Venusia was honor’s listed for the 2007 James Tiptree, Jr. Prize in science fiction. His experimental fiction and cultural criticism appear regularly in the international art community. Realometer (2009), a collection of literary essays on Poe, Melville and James Tiptree, Jr. is available from Merve Verlag, Berlin in German.

Pope b... b... b... BLOG?

cherry_cola — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:06:39 GMT

This link will take you to the latest sign of our times:
www.npr.org

I wonder if the Pope would lower himself to take the advice of the common people giving it to him.

Luke Burrage

kdhm — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 20:28:36 GMT

Here's to you. Mrs. Robinson

kdhm — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:56:29 GMT

"There can be no viler act, apart from homosexuality and sodomy, than sexually abusing innocent children."
Iris Robinson

Iris Robinson: Mrs. Robinson's Affair With Teen Rocks Northern Ireland

www.youtube.com

Why you should read more Science Fiction

kdhm — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:11:43 GMT

Science fiction takes the reader into a strange world without God. Oh, there might be “a god,” a “force,” but it is definitely not the God of the Bible, and the prominent names in this field are atheists...

Open 31 Dec and closed 1-4 Jan

kdhm — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:40:09 GMT

ANOTHER COUNTRY BOOKSHOP is CLOSED on :
Friday New Years Day through Monday Jan 4 and will reopen normal hours on Tues 5 Jan

The bookshop will be open New Years Eve December 31 for those wanting to drop by or bunker down for the night.

ANOTHER COUNTRY BOOKSHOP wishes you all a Happy New Year!

Einen Guten Rutsch ins Neue Jahr!

KNOWN FUNTS

bookbasher — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:37:22 GMT

The Funts are not a band. The Funts are a species. They come from Funt, a black hole on the other side of Uranus. There are no male or female Funts. Each Funt is its own gender. They walk amongst you. These are some known Funts:

DJ Funt (aka Funt Funt)
Lady Funt (aka Gab Funt)
Stud Funt (aka Alice)
Her Royal Funtness (HRF aka So-fi)
Domina La Funt (aka Lafunt)
Fish Funt (aka Chicken of the Sea)
Baby Funt (aka that girl with the blue hair who begs the question where the hell she comes from)
Big Funt (aka Eric)
Fart Funt (aka Jason)

This Firday 13 Nov.

kdhm — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:08:10 GMT

THE FUNTS ARE COMING

bookbasher — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:15:18 GMT

The Funts have just arrived in Berlin, beamed down through their genital tracts. They will be performing sexual acts at Dreamland this Saturday night, but are scheduled for 5 AM Sunday morning. The Tralien was so enraged by this decision that she stamped her paws and had a spontaneous orgasm, annihilating various ecosystems. Presently the Funts are expecting a change of scheduling, awaiting word from Dreamland Security.

kdhm — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 10:04:05 GMT

Reminder no Dinner tonight (Friday 30 October)
Halloween Party Saturday 31 October starts 8pm dinner at 9pm

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
ACCORDING TO CHRISTIAN BROADCASTING NETWORK SOME OR ALL OF THESE THINGS MIGHT HAPPEN HALLOWEEN NIGHT

* Sex with demons
* Orgies between animals and humans
* Animal and human sacrifices
* Sacrificing babies to shed innocent blood
* Rape and molestation of adults, children and babies
* Revel nights
* Conjuring of demons and casting of spells
* Release of "time-released" curses against the innocent and the ignorant.

for more info read the article below ...

Cache of removed article at CBN

English Info on German Health Insurance

kdhm — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:56:36 GMT

One of the most common questions at the bookshop from Americans wanting to move to Berlin is about insurance. I came across this website and wanted to post it here as somewhere to check out. I have not personally used the site and would love comments or feedback if anyone does. Health Insurance Germany

In Laudanum in Berlin!

sisterchain — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 14:21:14 GMT

The Hannoverian Folk Noir band In Laudanum is coming to Berlin for two nights only, hosted by the local duo Sister Chain & Brother John.

1. The Fantasy Cellar
On Wednesday the 9.9.09, at Another Country Bookshop, Sister Chain & Brother John will open for In Laudanum in the magical underground floor of Another Country. The Fantasy Cellar nights, now taking place for the 5th time, are free, early (20:30), and legendary!
Riemannstr.7. Kreuzberg 10961. U7 Gneisenaustr. Bus 140.

2. Shampoo Tips for Long Black Hair
On Thursday the 10.9.09 the two Glam & Gloom bands will rock the stage of Gallery Loophole. They will be joined by the red headed woman DJ Diamond Fingers (SameHeads, Ooby Dooby), championess of Rock a Billy and sixties goodness! Doors: 9pm.
Boddinstr.60. Neu Koelln. 12053. U8 Boddinstr. Bus 104.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO LISTEN TO IN LAUDANUM

Spider

cherry_cola — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:38:12 GMT

Spider

cherry_cola — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 00:06:11 GMT

Excellent Short Film

cherry_cola — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 23:50:47 GMT

Another new take on a tried & true scenario. But it works really well with the Euro-punk twist.

If only he could just...