A picture of the artificial hymen Photograph: Mohamed Al Rahhal
As a member of the XY tribe, evolution has spared me of one anatomically useless little membrane; and of course, my virginity, as a male, is of little interest to society. For women, however, it is frequently a very different matter.
Recently, news of a $15 Chinese-made artificial hymen sent ripples across the Egyptian media and blogosphere. China has been manufacturing this very same product for years, but it was an advertisement for a Chinese company offering shipping into the Middle East that started the discussion here in Cairo.
Conservative MPs took the debate into parliament, requesting a ban on imports of the product – and incidentally meteorically boosted its public exposure. There was, however, no information available whether the product was already available in Egypt, or whether there were individual orders coming locally. Of course, I had to provide an answer. I just had to order one.
Gigimo (NSFW) mainly sells sex-toys, and offers a "discreet packaging" option – removing the original packaging and any user manuals. I made sure to select that. One secured online payment and two weeks later – instead of the "three to four" suggested on the website – the product had arrived in Cairo.
As I went to retrieve my package at the post office, it had been opened by various puzzled customs and postal employees who, at a loss, defined the product in writing as "containing an unknown red liquid" – and awaited my description.
Though yet to be officially banned, an honest description would have almost guaranteed confiscation. I was inspired to describe the item as "cinematographic make-up". Not much of a stretch really – with the website suggesting adding "a few moans and groans", to make the performance convincing.
After much paperwork, various stamps, signatures and duties – and a total of 12 pairs of hands processing the package and its paperwork – I left with my, well, hymen.
Such is the "hymen": a 5x7cm folded piece of plastic – of albumin, the notice promptly corrects me – covered on one side by dark red ink. Placed in the vagina before sex, the plastic hardens slightly, and rips upon intercourse. A few drops of "blood" will stain the sheets, preserving the woman's, her family's, or society's "honour".
Whether it does actually work or not I cannot answer. The complete absence of medical information on the product, as well as online accusations that this product can cause infections, made me unwilling to give it to a volunteer to test.
We must remember, however, that the "Chinese hymen" – as it has come to be called in the media – only exists because of demand. Virginity "restoration" – or the illusion thereof – has been around ever since some societies decided that every bride's virginity was her most prized attribute.
A vial of chicken or pigeon blood – why poultry seems thus privileged I have no idea – kept under the bed and spilled on the sheets appears to be the oldest version of the trick. More recently, hymen reconstruction surgery is said to have become fairly widespread. Despite its price – often going into the several hundred dollars – and the fact that the operation is usually performed in unsanitary backstreet clinics, it is unlikely to go out of fashion.
The introduction of the artificial hymen on the Egyptian market has been forewarned by alarmists as the demise of all morality, providing women with a free-for-all opportunity for sexual promiscuity.
Yet the opposite is truer. Instead, this product allows society to bury its head in the sand and continue to engage in the hypocritical game of the "three drops of blood". It can only perpetuate the national illusion of our sexless perfection.
Lest I am so accused, I have nothing against a religious-based idea of pre-marital chastity per se, nor am I encouraging a sexual revolution of sorts. And I genuinely empathise with the women who feel compelled to recourse to those methods – sometimes at the peril of their lives – to uphold their reputation in the fact of a merciless society.
I do, however, strongly condemn the hypocrisy that allows us to discriminate against 50% of the society while giving a free pass to the other half. I am against forcing women to go such lengths, sometimes endangering their health, to allow us to delay a long-awaited national moratorium on gender relations.
Morality is worst interpreted by anatomy. And if we're waiting upon a small piece of plastic to define morality, then we've already failed – and ought to find a better definition.
A Somalian man who claims to be 112 years old has married for the sixth time, to a 17-year-old girl.
By Tom Chivers
A crowd of hundreds attended the wedding between Ahmed Muhamed Dore and Safia Abdulleh in Guriceel, in the Galguduud region of Somalia. Mr Dore said: "Today God helped me realise my dream."
Mr Dore and his teenage bride are from the same village, and he said that he had waited for her to grow up before proposing.
He said: "I didn't force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love, and then we agreed to marry."
The bride’s family said she was "happy with her new husband".
At 95 years older than her – if his claimed age is accurate – he is old enough to be her great-great-great-grandfather.
He already has 18 children by his other five wives.
According to Somali historians, the wedding is the first of its kind in Somalia for over a century.
This astonishing 18ft drawing of the world’s most famous skyline was created by autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire after he spent just 20 minutes in a helicopter gazing at the panorama.
The unbelievably intricate picture was drawn at Brooklyn’s prestigious Pratt Institute from Stephen’s memory, with details of every building sketched in to scale.
Landmarks including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building can be seen towering above smaller buildings after just three days in his spellbinding creation.
Sensation: Autistic artist Stephen Wiltshire on his third day of drawing the New York skyline from memory
Listening intently to his ipod throughout the artistic process - because music helps him - London-born Stephen uses only graphic pens as he commits his photographic memory to the high-grade paper.
Invited by top U.S. television network CBS to display his talents to the American public in a new screen appearance this week, Stephen has dumbfounded art lovers around the globe with sketches of Tokyo, Rome and Hong Kong.
‘Stephen sketches his layout in pencil first and then scales it within the border, first adding in landmarks before filling out in more intricate detail,’ said Iliana Taliotis, who works with Stephen and his family.
‘He works methodically in short sharp bursts and is even being put on webcam by CBS as he puts his art to paper.’
Inspired: Stephen listens to his iPod as he sketches the famous skyline. He draws heavily on music from the 70s to the 90s
On his third visit to New York, this is Stephen's first panorama of the world's most iconic cityscape.
‘Stephen feels this is his spiritual home,’ said Iliana.
‘There are many similarities between his home, London, and New York that he can relate to.
‘The only difference is that everything is on a bigger scale and with taller, more modern buildings.
‘Cities have always been his passion, and he is drawn to cosmopolitan lifestyles.’
Heavy duty: Stephen uses up to 12 pens and takes up to a week for each skyline
Diagnosed with autistism at an early age, Stephen's talent for drawing emerged as a way of expressing himself.
Using his drawing's to help him learn and encouraged by his family, Stephen created a series of 26 coded pictures to help him speak, all of which corresponded to a letter in the alphabet.
Going through up to 12 pens during his sketches which can take a week to finish, Stephen also draws heavily on music which he carries everywhere.
He listens to everything through the 70s, 80s, and 90s, including blues, soul, funk, Motown, pop, Back Street Boys, All Saints and even New Kids on the Block.
True to life: Stephen's sketch mirrors the actual skyline, pictured, capturing the Chrysler Building (right), the MetLife Building (centre) and the Rockefeller Center (left)
‘He always listens to music while he works,’ said Iliana.
‘This work will encompass the five boroughs of New York, New Jersey, Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty.
‘This one is extra special and unique.
‘Due to his personal love of New York it contains far more detail and the perspective of the panorama is much more in-depth, giving a more realistic, 3-D view of the city.’
World famous: Stephen's drawings of Tokyo, Rome and Hong Kong have dumbfounded art lovers around the globe
In May 2005, Stephen produced his longest ever panoramic memory drawing of Tokyo on a 52-foot canvas within seven days following a short helicopter ride over the city.
Since then he has drawn Rome, Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Madrid, Dubai, Jerusalem and London on giant canvasses.
When Wiltshire took the helicopter ride over Rome, he drew it in such great detail that he drew the exact number of columns in the Pantheon.
In 2006, Stephen Wiltshire was awarded a Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to art. He opened his permanent gallery in the Royal Opera Arcade, Pall Mall, the same year.
The ongoing battle between medical marijuana advocates and law enforcement has begotten some tricky legality, which has lead to all sorts of uncertainty regarding growth and distribution, and, ultimately, prosecution (or non-prosecution) of distributors. Meanwhile, in places like Northern California’s Mendocino County, it’s currently harvest season for marijuana growers. Last year at this time, the photographer Mathieu Young ventured up north to document, with neither judgment nor agenda, a mid-fall marijuana harvest. “On the one hand it seems like an illicit activity,” says Young. “But on the other hand, you have a bunch of people who are living off the land, which is beautiful.”
What follows is a selection from Mathieu Young’s “Harvest.”
Ernest Shackleton (above) abandoned two cases of whisky when he quit his Antartic hut (below)
Vintage: A MacKinlay's bottle of the same age
They say whisky matures with age...but leaving it embedded in the Antarctic ice for almost 100 years may be going a bit far.
Two cases of MacKinlay's Rare Old Whisky that Ernest Shackleton's team abandoned on their failed 1908 expedition to the South Pole have been uncovered intact.
The pine cases were discovered by a conservation team excavating ice from beneath the hut where Shackleton and his men sheltered from the long, savage winter. They showed almost no damage from the ice and the company's stag's head logo is clearly visible.
"It was a magic moment," said Al Fastier, the New Zealander managing the conservation programme at Cape Royds on Antarctica's Ross Island. "It's a very exciting find."
Shackleton built the hut in January 1908 to provide a base for his attempt to become the first person to reach the South Pole. He and his 14 crew members spent nine months in the hut as temperatures plunged to -58F (-50C).
They were sustained by supplies which included 1,600lb of Yorkshire ham, 100lb of Colman's mustard, hundreds of packs of Huntley & Palmers biscuits and copious tins of Lyle's Golden Syrup.
As for the whisky, MacKinlay's was a family distilling company based in Leith, Edinburgh. When Shackleton approached MacKinlay's in 1907, it readily agreed to act as the expedition's official whisky supplier, and the firm - now part of distillers Whyte and Mackay - still has the letter from Shackleton confirming the donation.
MacKinlay's provided 12 cases, and empty bottles have previously been found on Shackleton's desk at Cape Royds - but the new find is the first untouched alcohol to be discovered.
Shackleton and three companions set off for the Pole when spring arrived in late October. After an epic four-month trek, they fell just 98 miles short of their goal.
They left the Cape Royds hut on March 3, 1909, leaving behind surplus supplies as they rushed to get away before the winter ice closed around their ship.
"In light of this, it's not surprising that two cases of whisky were overlooked," said Martin Williams of the Antarctic Heritage Trust, which is endeavouring to preserve Shackleton's hut.
The conservation team had decided to remove the ice to make sure the hut's foundations were stable and to reduce humidity inside.
They have previously discovered an undershirt bearing the name Bertram Armytage - a member of Shackleton's team - as well as boots still lined with straw to boost insulation, an intact dog harness and crates of matches.
The cases of whisky have been left in the hut where they were found. If removed, Fastier explained, they could be damaged - and many experts feel such artefacts should remain in situ.
But surely one of the conservation team has been tempted to open a bottle?
"No," said Fastier. "It's better to imagine it than to taste it. That way it keeps its mystery."
Today marks the 15-year anniversary of Francisco Martin Duran’s attempt to assassinate Bill Clinton. He’s been in prison ever since. He’s never spoken to the press about it until he decided to send us an interview he conducted with himself while in jail. It’s been abbreviated for the sake of not burning your eyes staring at a screen, but all following words and syntax are his own.
Dear VICE: I was the man who was videotaped shooting up the White House back in 1994. It’s on YouTube.
I have never been interviewed. Yet have had countless offers to do so. Mostly, national media outlets and a couple of local area newsrooms. I don’t trust them. As you know, they are in it for the ratings and each has their own agenda. VICE shares with her audience real people out having a blast or doing what is necessary to survive. The bullshit does fly, yet it’s with a message and kickass pictures as a sort of ride-along to give the reader a face with the message. I like that. I’m writing to ask you if you are at all interested in publishing the following interview in VICE.
Thank you very much for your valuable time. Time is all I have. Prison sucks, yet it’s not the end of the world.
In Solidarity always, Francisco M. Duran #19588-016, F.C.I. Mesa Alpha P.O. Box 6000 Florence, Colorado 81226-6000
A one time interview with an unexposed once aspiring Assassin:
On October 29th 1994, a lone gunman by the name of Francisco Martin Duran, was videotaped shooting at the White House as tourist fled for their lives. He was tackeled to the ground and later convicted of 10 criminal counts. One being attempted murder of then president Bill Clinton. Sentenced to 480 month = 40 years in prison. Now it has been 14 years since then and he has never been interviewed by anyone. Except only by the Secret Service agents once a year since his long incarceration. Yet never has he discussed his motives for his violent actions that Sunny Saturday afternoon.
Question: What made You want to shoot up the White House? Answer: Ya, that’s what it did look like from the video. (also on YouTube) Yet, what was really taking place is I was shooting at a guy who looked exactly like Bill Clinton. So much so that you could literally hear the jury gasp when he walked into the courtroom to testify. The jury was visibly excited until they all realized that he wasn’t the president. And yes, I was there to assassinate the president known to all as Slick Willy. The cowardly prevaricater that he is.
Question: What did President Clinton do, for You to want to kill him? Answer: A synthesis of several factors came into play to drive Me to wish him dead and want to do the deed myself. I’m a Luciferian Anarchist. Always have been and invariably desire to shed Light upon the World we all share. Including upon the corrupt and contaminated.
During the Vietnam War, a young Bill Clinton was being indoctrinated to Anti-Freedom concepts while in Russia there attending a communist university. Being reared to command and convey a Leftist Agenda to bring down North America and her charitable values. And while there, Clinton critisized and spoke-out against the United States during a large red rally opposing the war. Then during his administration as Governor of Arkansas, he allowed tons of cocaine to enter the U.S. through the Mina Airport. Cocaine used to cause terrible addiction of America’s minorities and youth. And there is a lot of evidence of Bill murdering several people (56) while govenor. Then there is the fact that when he was elected president—a lot of America’s Military Generals and Admirals resigned because they knew Clinton hated the military, that he was all show and not there to pretect his country. He’s untrustworthy and weak. Realize that no way in hell would those generals serve under such a socialist president.
Question: What was your trip to D.C. like? Answer: My state of mind was in that of macabre darkness: I contained no love for myself or for Life. Death reaked everywhere. My heart pained with loneliness. I knew I alone had to do something to escape from the cadaverous mentality I was slugging through. So I walked away from everything and everyone I knew and went on my last vacation. While living in the Springs, I was also a Swinger. So My primary focus was to experience maximum pleasure; because I was headed towards My final act. Going out in a blaze of dellusional glory. Nothing else mattered, except having a blast before My departure from this maya.
So first down to San Antonio, Texas—My favorite city. You see, I love Hookers, Marijuana and women. I said, “Fuck It!” and partied like some crazed Hedonistic God. Using up all my credit cards. My highway to Hell was paved with hookers, lots of kronic and plenty of hot, dirty and really nasty sex with any girl I could find. Be them fat, ugly, pretty, to even weird, horny and crazy. And anything in-between. I didn’t care or give a shit.
So one night while out walking along the River Walk, I came across this young girl crying near the Alamo, and tapping her leg. A sound emenating like a bottle of pills being jingled. I approached her and asked if she was alright. Her reply was a nasty, “What the fuck was it to me if she was okay!” I just smiled and inquired if she was so depressed and if she was considering committing suicide?
She just stared at me. She was not the cutest thing and she carried her image, which was obvious, with a really low self esteem attitude. She said that it was her birthday, just turning 18, and no cared. She had nothing happening in her life that mattered. A fellow traveler in the Void. I asked her if she was going to kill herself, and if she didn’t want her body anylonger, if I could have it for a little while? Afterwards, if she still wanted to—she can go ahead and proceeded to end her life.
“What are You going to do with it?” She asked. Sweety, What ever I please. She just slumped her shoulders and I lead her to my hotel room not too far away. There I undressed her and we got into the shower together. I carefully washed her and told her not to trip. It’s a new adventure taking place in her life. For her to open her consciousness to the freshness of just letting go and being in the moment. At the edge of a new frontier. Yes, unfamiliar; Yet, very intimate and alien. What the Hell! It felt good and refreshing to her to not worry about what others think, believe or what’s coming next.
I dried her off slowly. Taking in her lovely body in all of its beautiful and young glory. A flower unseen for far too long. I layed her on the bed and wrapped my arms around her and we layed there in silence for over an hour. Comforted in my embrace, she asked Me to use her body in any way I desire, just like I said I would.
She faced Me and I passionately kissed her soft lips and worked my way down to her small tits. Taking special care to give each nipple some attention. Then proceeded down to eat her hairy pussy. She freaked out when my long tongue pressed down hard onto her clit. She lost her mind as I licked, sucked and ate her sweet pussy pie. I mist have eaten her cunt for about two hours straight. I Love Eating Pussy! She prepeatedly screamed and pulled at my hair—telling Me how much she loves Me for eating her juicy and virgin cunt. Having orgasm after orgasm, over and over, one after the other. I would every once in a while, letting my tongue slip, blessing her with a good oh fashion rim-job, throughout the tow hours.
Enjoying the shock of such pleasure it gave her racing threw her body. “God loveth a cheerful giver.” I then fucked her good and rode her hard doggy-style. Grabbing her hair and then slapping that sweet ass I pounded away. She was lost in the over whelming lust and pleasure, mixed with that erotic pain. Psychopathic and lascivious eroticism was all that my consciousness desired. The pleasures are momentary, the positions rediculous, and the expense damnable. I was so wrapped up in the flesh, slithering and licking one another like passionate and debased slimmy snakes. I felt alive and condemned all at once. I left Her there alone, lost in her own flesh.
From Texas on to Arkansas: Little Rock was not as exciting, yet I did purchase several prostitutes. Always enjoy their company. I don’t eat hooker pussy—So I had My other favorite thing done—Having My big dick sucked and coming into their mouths. I love watching someone sucking My cock. “Hey, check it out, My dick is in your mouth! Look at You go! Suck it Bitch! Suck it and eat my cum!” That is the craziest shit ever. I fucking love it!
Then into Tennessee, Which was pretty much the same, except for the one fat trailer trash tramp who took me to her dirty trailer, after kicking out her 10 year old daughter out for the day. That crazy bitch rode my cock like it was the last one on the planet. Her titties were huge and that smelly cunt was soaking wet, making those special slooping noises we all love to hear. She was into it hard! I thought the trailer was going to fall apart. Yet I didn’t stop or give a shit. “Ride My dick You dirty slut!” She did and was having a blast!
Now up into Virginia: Women in Virginia are gorgeous and generous with their bodies. So full of live and giving, and more than willing to get busy at the drop of a hat. One night at a club in Charlottesville, A man came in with his wife. She was beautiful. So I went on up to them and asked if she was the famous singer Reba McEntire? She giggled and blushed, loving the compliment so much, I boldly asked her husband if I could dance with her. He said sure.
I whisked her onto the dance floor, where I slow-danced with her and started to kiss and lick her neck, all the while rubbing her fat ass. I would look over at her hubby and he was just watching and enjoying all he was seeing. So I kicked it up a notch and we started kissing and doing a little dirty dancing. My hand going up under her dress and rubbing her wet pussy. After a few more dances, they invited me to their place in the mountains.
There, we proceeded to the bedroom, where the husband sat in a corner of the room as she and I got naked on the bed—ready to give him a show. We started in a 69 position. With her shaved pussy in my mouth and my dick in her’s, we ate each other out really good for a long while. Then the sex was fun and nasty. She was doing all this for him, than for either one of us. She kept looking at him as he sat their jerking off and asking if he liked this or is he enjoying that? A Swing Show where everyone was having their own fun. I loved it! We all had a really great time together. I stayed there for three days with them just having fun.
Then into D.C. All the while, I was just cruising nice and easy, having plenty of time to party and having an overdose of extremely perverted and sadistic sex. So many women and such a crazed and wild adventure. I have to say that until then, I never felt more alive or in control. I was eating pussy across America!
Question: Can You tell us about your time in D.C.? Answer: D.C. Is possibly the most corrupt and debased city in all the world! Gratification of the flesh is what drives D.C. and everyone who goes there to represent their Home Land, World Leaders and those just doing business. I have found My perverted home here. At every corner, someone is doing some sort of transaction. When the Sun falls, a clandestine world emerges. A sometimes weird and sadistic place that an everyday imagination can not comprehend or would find most disgusting.
The blood lust and perversion is what rules the city. Sacrifices are the norm and the feeding of the flesh comes first. I had found paradise. Here was a city without bonderies or inhibitions of any sort. Nothing was left to the imagination and nothing was held sacred—Except the Lust of the Flesh!
As we all know—each city has its own particular odor. A scent that tells everyone that this is where you’re at and stays with you until you die. D.C.’s pungency was that of sex and lust. So much so that there is a zoo in the middle of the city to protect the animals from those leaders visiting there.
I was out one night enjoying a steak dinner, when out of nowhere an old woman in her 50s takes the check away from me and leads me to her apartment down the street. This place was expensive and full of antiques and very posh. There, she had me tie her down upon the bed and was told to use and abuse her to no end, all while fucking her hard and dirty. For me to do all that I please to her as long and it was degrading and painful. This lasted for over three hours. And I absolutely loved it all. She must have orgasm at least 30 times that night. She then gave me $1,500 dollars and told me to never return. I grabbed her by the hair and gave her a long kiss goodbye.
My greatest joy in all this was giving her all what she wanted. I give women what they crave and anything that they desire in the bedroom, where-ever, and it is about their just needs that are of interest to me. “Many flowers have bloomed unseen, wasting their Sweetness away.”
Question: If released from prison tomorrow, what would You do? Answer: I would first stand back consciously and take a walk around the city I’m living in. Then grab a few trash bags, a rake and gloves and head over to do some cleaning in a dirty lot or public place that needed cleaning. I would clean up as many public places as I possibly could. Then rent a tow-truck and go around towing away any abandoned cars.
Question: What was prison like for You? Answer: Years of Self-Reflection. An awakening and honest maturity. Sadly, it’s easy being a slave, than working hard to become a master of your own destiny. Yes, I’m very much so a Lucifarian Anarchist! Dependant on no one or accountable to any form of social contract made up by customs, religion, traditions or authority. A Man Awake! Who has made My own Zine establishing what I think and on being a “Serial Anarchist.” Challenging anyone to try to shock someone who is truly unshockable—With wild personal stories and adventures. I plan on including the most bizarre in my next zine. Who out there has the sickest shit?
And I’ve become Mindful of each and every moment and thought. Always in this moment, because this moment is all we have. It is always right here, right now, always. Smile, appreciate Life and know that you’re not alone in the world.
Thursday, October 29, 2009 at 12:31 pm by FRANCISCO MARTIN DURAN VICE US
I thought this would likely be a couple second one push type of fight but it turns out to be a five minute mini-brawl between this old couple and a couple goofy chicks.
Extreme pumpkin carving might not sound as intense as the envelope-pushing activities of tatted and pierced Gen-X daredevils usually called "extreme." But compared to "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," it's still pretty edgy.
In extreme pumpkin carving, the perfect jack-o'-lantern is achieved using tools such as jigsaws, road flares and lighter fluid. Michigan man Tom Nardone is the leading practitioner of this dark art, and we've rounded up some videos of Nardone, and others, doing their hardcore Halloween thing.
Nardone shows how to make a puking pumpkin.
More tips and clips from Nardone.
A gallery of extreme jack o'laterns.
Firecrackers made this pumpkin's smile.
Two pretty girls try their hand at extreme pumpkin carving. (Not as "extreme" as the other clips, but they are wearing tight shirts.)
Clean drinking water has always been a major issue in many developing countries, but with the onset of climate change and droughts, this may become a problem for industrialized countries as well. There is a simple solution for clean water: clay. Tony Flynn with the World Vision charity and Potters for Peace have discovered people everywhere can drink clean water with the materials around us.
Tony Flynn, a master potter and scientist, has created a simple to create water purifier out of incredibly simple materials found almost anywhere in the world. The filter is created with clay, organic materials (coffee grinds or rice), water and manure. The straw and rice are mixed in with the clay and water and then fired over some burning manure. The organic materials are burned away during the firing process and create small passages in the filter that allow water, but not pathogens, to pass. This filter effectively removes 96.4-99.8% of E. Coli in water [Source: ANU]. One of these filters can great a liter of drinkable water in only two hours. You can make your own filter by following these steps:
Materials 1. crushed, dry clay 2. organic material(tea leaves, cofffee grounds, or rice hulls) 3. water 4. Cow manure
Instructions 1. Mix in enough water to make a stiff biscuit-like mixture 2. Form a cylindrical pot that has one closed end 3. Dry the pot in the sun 4. Surround the pot with straw and place it in a mound of cow manure 5. Light the straw and then top up the burning manure as required. 6. Filter will be completed in less than an hour.
This invention was purposely not-patented so that everyone could create their own water filters. Other organizations like Engineers Without Borders and Potters for Peace have introduced a similar clay filter designed by Guatemalan chemist Fernando Mazariegos. The filter follows the same idea as the one created by Tony Flynn, but fires the clay inside of a kiln rather than over an open fire and paints the filter with colloidal silver afterwards. The silver helps to remove bacteria and pathogens that traditional clay filters might otherwise miss [Source: Gazette Times].
While clay filters are easy to create and much environmentally friendly, there are some downfalls. One of the major disadvantages is that they can only produce a small amount of water and that if the water is turbid, then the filter needs to be scrubbed after use. This abrasive treatment wears away the ceramic and may even crack the ceramic. Any cracks would allow pathogens to short circuit the filters. Clay filters may be cheap to produce, but if the surface water that they are treating is highly turbid the filters may have a relatively short life [Source: RELFE] and need to be replaced at a very high rate.
Despite these flaws, clay filters are gaining in popularity and countries like Ghana and Cambodia are producing thousands of these for distribution per year. Clean drinking water does not have to a problem in the future if we take precautions not to pollute our water or climate.
At Care2, we believe that individual actions can collectively make a difference. Whether you start making differences in your home, your community, or across the globe, we are glad to help you on your journey. Join us today! With more than 11 million members, Care2 is the largest online community of people making a difference in healthy and green living, human rights and animal welfare. Join us today!
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All you art collectors out there. Here is a chance to get a Giclee copy of some of Ian M Sherwin work. Ian is planning on doing a whole series of Marblehead, Massachusetts paintings. His work is amazing.