trainspotting, meet trainspotter
6/21/2010
6/20/2010
12/17/2009
Dual Brain Theory
In the 1960s, split-brain surgery was used to treat people suffering from severe epilepsy. These operations enabled scientists to investigate the properties of each separated hemisphere, the left and right brain. Patients who had their corpus callosum cut manifested two separate minds. Schiffer, a clinical instructor in psychiatry at HMS and McLean, believes that ordinary people also are of two minds, each associated with one hemisphere. Dual-brain therapy is his application of this principle toward helping people better understand and repair their psychological distresses. Inspired by research that suggested restricting vision to one side might allow a person to communicate preferentially with one hemisphere or the other, Schiffer devised glasses that allow vision only out of the left or right side. He found that about half his patients had a response to these "lateralizing" glasses, often feeling more anxious when looking to the right visual field (left brain) than to the left. Follow-up studies yielded similar results, suggesting that ordinary people frequently manifest two distinct personalities, each related either to the left or right hemisphere.
11/18/2009
11/08/2009
11/03/2009
Bear Death
A bear killed two militants after discovering them in its den in Indian-administered Kashmir, police say.
Wildlife experts say the conflict in Kashmir has actually resulted in an increase in the population of bears and leopards.
Following the outbreak of the insurgency people had to hand in their weapons to police - which put a halt to poaching.
As a result, there has been a greater incidence of man-animal conflict, say experts.
....
Three years ago, residents of Mandora village near the southern town of Tral, beat a black bear to death which had strayed into the village.
Link
Wildlife experts say the conflict in Kashmir has actually resulted in an increase in the population of bears and leopards.
Following the outbreak of the insurgency people had to hand in their weapons to police - which put a halt to poaching.
As a result, there has been a greater incidence of man-animal conflict, say experts.
....
Three years ago, residents of Mandora village near the southern town of Tral, beat a black bear to death which had strayed into the village.
Link
10/14/2009
Have Faith in the Voting Public
When we walk into a voting booth and cast our vote, we like to think that we are making a considered decision, based on the issues. After all, a properly functioning democratic system, which gives its citizens the power to choose their leaders and shape critical policies, requires that voters are, for the most part, rational and that society can trust them to make sound judgments.
....
And yet, this is exactly what a recent study in the journal Science has found. The study, conducted by psychologists John Antonakis and Olaf Dalgas at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, shows that Swiss children as young as five years can predict which candidates are more likely to win French parliamentary elections.
This finding contributes to a large and growing body of evidence, coming from many research groups, which shows that voters seem to be heavily influenced by a candidate’s appearance, and in particular the kinds of personality traits that a politician’s face projects.
Link
....
And yet, this is exactly what a recent study in the journal Science has found. The study, conducted by psychologists John Antonakis and Olaf Dalgas at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, shows that Swiss children as young as five years can predict which candidates are more likely to win French parliamentary elections.
This finding contributes to a large and growing body of evidence, coming from many research groups, which shows that voters seem to be heavily influenced by a candidate’s appearance, and in particular the kinds of personality traits that a politician’s face projects.
Link
10/11/2009
The near 18:7 resonance pattern with Jupiter only marches clockwise. It never halts and reverses course.
10/07/2009
Suspicious
Det Insp Richard Budd said the death was being treated as "suspicious".
He added that only some of the bones were found in the bag - and others were scattered nearby and "partially buried".
He added that only some of the bones were found in the bag - and others were scattered nearby and "partially buried".
8/01/2009
A US jury has found a man guilty of killing his sick 11-year-old daughter by praying for her recovery rather than seeking medical care.
The man, Dale Neumann, told a court in the state of Wisconsin he believed God could heal his daughter.
She died of a treatable disease - undiagnosed diabetes - at home in rural Wisconsin in March last year, as people surrounded her and prayed.
Link BBC
The man, Dale Neumann, told a court in the state of Wisconsin he believed God could heal his daughter.
She died of a treatable disease - undiagnosed diabetes - at home in rural Wisconsin in March last year, as people surrounded her and prayed.
Link BBC
7/26/2009
Faint Glow
Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals.
Link
Link
7/08/2009
Death By Chocolate
A spokesman for the local prosecutor's office said the man appeared to have died instantly from a blow to his head by a paddle mixing the chocolate.
His colleagues at the factory tried to shut down the mixer, but were too late.
Local journalists met some of the workers in the car park, covered in chocolate and seemingly in dismay, US network ABC reported.
BBC
His colleagues at the factory tried to shut down the mixer, but were too late.
Local journalists met some of the workers in the car park, covered in chocolate and seemingly in dismay, US network ABC reported.
BBC
7/04/2009
Human Morality
Morality is apparently based more on circumstance then on any sort of character trait. There are unfortunately huge flaws in a lot of the arguments made later on in the program. If you consider some of these ideas from a human level, rather than a purely objective one, then the many of the statements presented start to fall apart. I wonder what sort of person is driven to become a moralist or a philosopher as a career. I'm going to go with my first assumption and say a self righteous asshole. However, the first 10 or so minutes of this podcast are interesting, as annoying the host's accent is.
Link Analysis
Link Analysis
Self-help 'makes you feel worse'
"Canadian researchers found those with low self-esteem actually felt worse after repeating positive statements about themselves.
They said phrases such as "I am a lovable person" only helped people with high self-esteem.
The study appears in the journal Psychological Science. "
Link BBC
They said phrases such as "I am a lovable person" only helped people with high self-esteem.
The study appears in the journal Psychological Science. "
Link BBC
6/30/2009
Get Ready for Unintentional Slavery
A gene mapping test that can test embryos for almost any inherited disease could be available in the UK within a year, say researchers.
Unlike current tests doctors do not need to know the specific gene mutation involved.
At the same time embryos can be tested to check they are generally in good genetic shape.
Experts say there will have to be strict limits on what the test can be used for.
Professor Tony Ruthford, chair of the British Fertility Society said the test would be more reliable although admitted such technology was opening a "Pandora's box".
Link BBC
Unlike current tests doctors do not need to know the specific gene mutation involved.
At the same time embryos can be tested to check they are generally in good genetic shape.
Experts say there will have to be strict limits on what the test can be used for.
Professor Tony Ruthford, chair of the British Fertility Society said the test would be more reliable although admitted such technology was opening a "Pandora's box".
Link BBC
-Ted Kaczynski's "Unnamed Essay (1971)
By way of a further example, let us consider genetic engineering. This will not come into use as a result of a conscious decision by the majority of people to introduce genetic engineering. It will begin with certain "progressive" parents who will voluntarily avail themselves of genetic engineering opportunities in order to eliminate the risk of certain gross physical defects in their offspring. Later, this engineering will be extended to include elimination of mental defects and treatment which will predispose the child to somewhat higher intelligence. (Note that the question of what constitutes a mental "defect" is a value-judgement. Is homosexuality, for example, a defect? Some homosexuals would say "no." But there is no objectively true or false answer to such a question.)
6/28/2009
Spam
"The residents of the state of Hawaii and the territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) consume the most Spam per capita in the United States. On average, each person on Guam consumes 16 tins of Spam each year and the numbers at least equal this in the CNMI. Guam, Hawaii, and Saipan, the CNMI's principal island, have the only McDonald's restaurants that feature Spam on the menu. Burger King, in Hawaii, began serving Spam in 2007 on its menu to compete with the local McDonald's chains.
The perception of Spam in Hawaii is very different from that on the mainland. Despite the large number of mainlanders who eat Spam, and the various recipes that have been made from it, Spam, along with most canned food, is often stigmatized on the mainland as 'poor people food'. In Hawaii, similar canned meat products such as Treet are referred to as 'poor people Spam'."
Wikipedia
The perception of Spam in Hawaii is very different from that on the mainland. Despite the large number of mainlanders who eat Spam, and the various recipes that have been made from it, Spam, along with most canned food, is often stigmatized on the mainland as 'poor people food'. In Hawaii, similar canned meat products such as Treet are referred to as 'poor people Spam'."
Wikipedia
6/26/2009
6/24/2009
Right Ear->Left Brain
"In the third study, the researchers intentionally addressed 176 clubbers in either their right or their left ear when asking for a cigarette.
The researchers obtained significantly more cigarettes when they spoke to the clubbers' right ear compared with their left."
Link BBC
The researchers obtained significantly more cigarettes when they spoke to the clubbers' right ear compared with their left."
Link BBC
6/17/2009
"When Mrs Prusik died, Mr Prusik-Parkin is accused of giving her funeral director a false social security number and date of birth so that her death would not show up in government records.
He is then alleged to have started claiming $700 a month in social security benefits in her name on top of his own disability benefits.
Using a walking stick, heavy make-up and fake ID, and accompanied by a man posing as Mrs Prusik's nephew, Mr Prusik-Parkin would, according to prosecutors, collect benefit checks, visit banks and even appear in court."
Link
6/16/2009
Phineas Gage
"I first noticed the wound upon the head before I alighted from my carriage, the pulsations of the brain being very distinct. Mr. Gage, during the time I was examining this wound, was relating the manner in which he was injured to the bystanders. I did not believe Mr. Gage's statement at that time, but thought he was deceived. Mr. Gage persisted in saying that the bar went through his head....Mr. G. got up and vomited; the effort of vomiting pressed out about half a teacupful of the brain, which fell upon the floor."
Link
Link
6/15/2009
Velvet Shock
"… what about the night Andy Warhol got the Velvet Underground to play a convention of psychiatrists at Delominco’s steak house? The psychiatrists were appalled. “That was revenge - Lou’s revenge,” Cale says, “and I was all for it.” As a teenager, Reed had been given electric shock treatment to “cure” him of homosexuality. “Lou and I were going to put out a record with his psychiatrist’s letter on one side and my arrest record* on the other.”
.........
“The second the main course was served, the Velvets started to blast and Nico started to wail. Gerard and Edie jumped up on the stage and started dancing, and the doors flew open and Jonas Mekas and Barbara Rubin with her crew of people with camera and bright lights came storming into the room and rushing over to all the psychiatrists asking them things like:
Link
.........
“The second the main course was served, the Velvets started to blast and Nico started to wail. Gerard and Edie jumped up on the stage and started dancing, and the doors flew open and Jonas Mekas and Barbara Rubin with her crew of people with camera and bright lights came storming into the room and rushing over to all the psychiatrists asking them things like:
What does her vagina feel like?
Is his penis big enough? Do you eat her out?
Why are you getting embarrasssed? You’re a psychiatrist; you’re not supposed to get embarrassed...."
Link
6/14/2009
Body Language
"A fascinating study has shown that we're unable to read insights into ourselves from watching a video of our own body language. It's as if we have an egocentric blind spot. Outside observers, by contrast, can watch the same video and make revealing insights into our personality."
Link
Link
Edward H. Rulloff
"Every learned man who enters Rulloff's presence leaves it amazed and confounded by his prodigious capabilities and attainments. One scholar said he did not believe that in the matters of subtle analysis, vast knowledge in his peculiar field of research, comprehensive grasp of subject and serene kingship over its limitless and bewildering details, any land or any era of modern times had given birth to Rulloff s intellectual equal." Twain stated in a private letter to the editor of the Tribune that he hoped to arouse public support for commuting Rulloff's sentence. New York Governor John T. Hoffman rejected all appeals for clemency however.
Link
Link
Gävle Goat
# 1966 Stig Gavlén came up with the idea of a giant goat made out of straw. But it turned out that Gavlén organisation did not have enough funding for the goat. Then Harry Ström, who at that time was the chairman of the Södra Kungsgatan Ideella Förening (a non-profit society), decided to pay the whole cost for the goat out of his own pocket. The goat stood until 12.00 PM that New Year's Eve, when it went up in flames. The perpetrator, who was from Hofors, Gästrikland, was found and convicted of vandalism. The first goat was insured and Ström got all his money back.
......
# 1987 A heavily fireproofed goat was built. It got burned down a week before Christmas.
# 1988 Nothing happened to the goat this year, but gamblers were for the first time able to gamble on the fate of the goat with English bookmakers.
......
# 1990 Nothing happened. This year the goat was guarded by many volunteers.
......
# 2005 Burned by unknown vandals reportedly dressed as Santa and a gingerbread man by shooting a flaming arrow or molotov cocktail at the goat at 21:00 on 3 December.[15] Reconstructed on 5 December.
Wikipedia Link
......
# 1987 A heavily fireproofed goat was built. It got burned down a week before Christmas.
# 1988 Nothing happened to the goat this year, but gamblers were for the first time able to gamble on the fate of the goat with English bookmakers.
......
# 1990 Nothing happened. This year the goat was guarded by many volunteers.
......
# 2005 Burned by unknown vandals reportedly dressed as Santa and a gingerbread man by shooting a flaming arrow or molotov cocktail at the goat at 21:00 on 3 December.[15] Reconstructed on 5 December.
Wikipedia Link
Free Will
"In a series of experiments in the 1980s, Benjamin Libet studied the relationship between conscious experience of volition and the BP e.g.[9] and found that the BP started about 0.35 sec earlier than the subject's reported conscious awareness that 'now he or she feels the desire to make a movement.' Libet concludes that we have no free will in the initiation of our movements though, since subjects were able to prevent intended movement at the last moment, we do have a veto."
Wikipedia Link
6/11/2009
1/15/2009
Medical professional Samir Guliyani, a cyclist, said "maybe killing is not the best way but stray dogs are a menace".
"The way they suddenly pounce on bike riders is dangerous. Something has to be done and they have to be off roads."
On the subject of Pamela herself, Mr Guliyani said: "She is hot but why is she writing to the municipal commissioner?"
BBC
"The way they suddenly pounce on bike riders is dangerous. Something has to be done and they have to be off roads."
On the subject of Pamela herself, Mr Guliyani said: "She is hot but why is she writing to the municipal commissioner?"
BBC
9/28/2007
9/13/2007
Not entirely surprising
When asked what they would do in such a situation, almost everyone replies that of course they would refuse to commit murder. But Stanley Milgram's famous obedience experiment, conducted at Yale University in the early 1960s, revealed that this optimistic belief is wrong. If the request is presented in the right way, almost all of us quite obediently become killers.
........
To Milgram's surprise, even though volunteers could plainly hear the agonized cries of the learner echoing through the walls of the lab from the neighboring room, two-thirds of them continued to press the shock button all the way up to the end of scale, 450 volts, by which time the learner had fallen into an eerie silence, apparently dead. Milgram's subjects sweated and shook, and some laughed hysterically, but they kept pressing the button. Even more disturbingly, when volunteers could neither see nor hear feedback from the learner, compliance with the order to give ever greater shocks was almost 100%.
Link
........
To Milgram's surprise, even though volunteers could plainly hear the agonized cries of the learner echoing through the walls of the lab from the neighboring room, two-thirds of them continued to press the shock button all the way up to the end of scale, 450 volts, by which time the learner had fallen into an eerie silence, apparently dead. Milgram's subjects sweated and shook, and some laughed hysterically, but they kept pressing the button. Even more disturbingly, when volunteers could neither see nor hear feedback from the learner, compliance with the order to give ever greater shocks was almost 100%.
Link
Russian press reports say Mr Pichushkin was planning to kill one person for each of the 64 squares on a chessboard.
Link
Link
9/08/2007
After an awkward, 15-second period of silence, Winters thankfully moved away from the podium, only to be replaced by 32-year-old Laurel Hale, who seemed eager to prove to every citizen of New Bedford that she had the brainpower of an autistic dog.
"I'm just going to say one thing because I don't want to take up too much of anyone's time," said Hale as her 6-month-old daughter pawed at the microphone. Hale then somehow managed to link the synthetic-turf issue to the lack of places to sit in public areas, her inability to get the buttons at the crosswalk to work, and the apparent overabundance of cable television channels.
Added Hale: "Also, Councilman Reed, you need to get us out of Iraq. Now."
Link
"I'm just going to say one thing because I don't want to take up too much of anyone's time," said Hale as her 6-month-old daughter pawed at the microphone. Hale then somehow managed to link the synthetic-turf issue to the lack of places to sit in public areas, her inability to get the buttons at the crosswalk to work, and the apparent overabundance of cable television channels.
Added Hale: "Also, Councilman Reed, you need to get us out of Iraq. Now."
Link
Sick
Mrs. Cottom’s 11-year-old daughter, Asia, a passenger on American Airlines Flight 77, died when hijackers crashed the plane into the Pentagon. She and her husband, Clifton, soon had to choose between taking what they perceived as a minimal award from a federal fund set up to compensate victims or calling one of the many lawyers who had sent what Mrs. Cottom calls “advertising packages” and filing a lawsuit.
“She came to me and convinced me that she could bring justice to the situation, and I trusted what she said,” Mrs. Cottom recalled. When government compensation for deaths was eventually made, the average was $2 million, and the range was $250,000 to $7.1 million.
Pain and suffering is another matter, more ineffable. The Sept. 11th fund awarded a flat rate of $250,000 for pain and suffering for each person who died in the attacks, and another $100,000 each to surviving spouses and children.
The Cottoms’ lawyers would not say how much Asia might have received from the fund. Mrs. Cottom said she believed they would have received little more than the minimum $250,000 — an amount she found “insulting.”
NYtimes
“She came to me and convinced me that she could bring justice to the situation, and I trusted what she said,” Mrs. Cottom recalled. When government compensation for deaths was eventually made, the average was $2 million, and the range was $250,000 to $7.1 million.
Pain and suffering is another matter, more ineffable. The Sept. 11th fund awarded a flat rate of $250,000 for pain and suffering for each person who died in the attacks, and another $100,000 each to surviving spouses and children.
The Cottoms’ lawyers would not say how much Asia might have received from the fund. Mrs. Cottom said she believed they would have received little more than the minimum $250,000 — an amount she found “insulting.”
NYtimes
Yawn
The BPS Research Digest reports that children with autism are seemingly 'immune' to contagious yawning - perhaps as a result of their reduced social awareness.
Seeing someone yawn, or indeed, just thinking about someone else yawning, makes us more likely to do the same. For example, this article may well be enough to trigger a yawn in some people.
One of the three key aspects of autism is a difficulty with social interaction (the other two being difficulties with certain types of abstract thinking and a restricted or repetitive range of interests or behaviours).
So a group of researchers, led by psychologist Dr. Atsushi Senju, wondered whether children with autism might be less susceptible to yawn contagion.
They came up with the 'I wish I'd thought of that' idea of showing videos of people yawning to groups of typically developing children, and children with a diagnosis of autism.
Link
Seeing someone yawn, or indeed, just thinking about someone else yawning, makes us more likely to do the same. For example, this article may well be enough to trigger a yawn in some people.
One of the three key aspects of autism is a difficulty with social interaction (the other two being difficulties with certain types of abstract thinking and a restricted or repetitive range of interests or behaviours).
So a group of researchers, led by psychologist Dr. Atsushi Senju, wondered whether children with autism might be less susceptible to yawn contagion.
They came up with the 'I wish I'd thought of that' idea of showing videos of people yawning to groups of typically developing children, and children with a diagnosis of autism.
Link
9/07/2007
How to Cash in on Death
The room twitters in amazement. It's hard not to applaud the balls of a man who walks into Congress short $72 million in taxpayer money and offers to guess where it all might have gone.
Link
Link
9/03/2007
US President George W Bush is making an unannounced visit to Iraq for a meeting with key advisers.
He arrived at al-Asad air base, west of Baghdad, accompanied by US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
Mr Bush is expected to use the visit to argue his case that the build-up of US troops is helping to stabilise Iraq.....
Now, as then, the surprise trip was shrouded in secrecy because of the ongoing instability.
He arrived at al-Asad air base, west of Baghdad, accompanied by US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley.
Mr Bush is expected to use the visit to argue his case that the build-up of US troops is helping to stabilise Iraq.....
Now, as then, the surprise trip was shrouded in secrecy because of the ongoing instability.
8/31/2007
The Israeli military has said a tank fired at three Palestinian children who were killed in Gaza on Tuesday because troops mistook them for militants.
The three cousins - two boys aged 10 and 12, and a 12-year-old girl - were playing near rocket launchers outside Beit Hanun, a military statement said.
An internal army investigation found soldiers had detected "unidentified movement and opened fire", it added.
The army initially said militants had sent the children to get the launchers.
Both the Israeli military and Palestinian witnesses have said children have been used to retrieve launchers after rockets have been fired.
But army aerial surveillance videos of the incident proved the children were simply playing tag.
"They were playing right next to the launchers, including touching them," the army statement said.
The soldiers used the aerial video to direct the tank fire, the army said.
"At the very last second, it was apparent that they were children, but it was impossible to stop the explosion," it added.
Link
The three cousins - two boys aged 10 and 12, and a 12-year-old girl - were playing near rocket launchers outside Beit Hanun, a military statement said.
An internal army investigation found soldiers had detected "unidentified movement and opened fire", it added.
The army initially said militants had sent the children to get the launchers.
Both the Israeli military and Palestinian witnesses have said children have been used to retrieve launchers after rockets have been fired.
But army aerial surveillance videos of the incident proved the children were simply playing tag.
"They were playing right next to the launchers, including touching them," the army statement said.
The soldiers used the aerial video to direct the tank fire, the army said.
"At the very last second, it was apparent that they were children, but it was impossible to stop the explosion," it added.
Link
8/30/2007
Read the last line again
A Burning Man participant was found dead this morning, hanging from the inside of a two-story high tent, according to Mark Pirtle, special agent in charge for the Bureau of Land Management.
The apparent suicide would be the festival's first in its 21 year history, Pirtle said.
Pershing County coroners are investigating the scene and preparing to remove the body. Pirtle said the man was hanging for two hours before anyone in the large tent thought to bring him down. "His friends thought he was doing an art piece," Pirtle said.
The apparent suicide would be the festival's first in its 21 year history, Pirtle said.
Pershing County coroners are investigating the scene and preparing to remove the body. Pirtle said the man was hanging for two hours before anyone in the large tent thought to bring him down. "His friends thought he was doing an art piece," Pirtle said.
8/27/2007
Ignorance
"I saw three people with my own eyes. When they got very sick and people could not look after them, they buried them," she told reporters.
She described how one person called out "mama, mama" as the soil was being shovelled over their head.
Villagers told her that such action was common, she said.
Link
She described how one person called out "mama, mama" as the soil was being shovelled over their head.
Villagers told her that such action was common, she said.
Link
8/23/2007
ugh
Old age is apparently not preventing US citizens from enjoying active sex lives, researchers there say.
In a survey of 3,005 people aged 57 to 85, a significant number said they were sexually active into their 70s and 80s.
Link
In a survey of 3,005 people aged 57 to 85, a significant number said they were sexually active into their 70s and 80s.
Link
8/18/2007
2nd Amendment Rights
A man in Florida surprised police by handing in a surface-to-air missile launcher during a gun amnesty in the city of Orlando.
Under the no-questions-asked scheme, "Kicks for Guns", anyone who surrendered a firearm would receive trainers or $50 (£25).
The Orlando Sentinel newspaper said the man exchanged the rocket launcher for designer footwear for his daughter.
He told the newspaper he found the 4ft (1.2m) weapon in a shed last week.
The unidentified man said he had tried in vain to get rid of the launcher, which is designed to blow aircraft out of the sky.
"I took it to three dumps to try to get rid of it and they told me to get lost."
Link
Under the no-questions-asked scheme, "Kicks for Guns", anyone who surrendered a firearm would receive trainers or $50 (£25).
The Orlando Sentinel newspaper said the man exchanged the rocket launcher for designer footwear for his daughter.
He told the newspaper he found the 4ft (1.2m) weapon in a shed last week.
The unidentified man said he had tried in vain to get rid of the launcher, which is designed to blow aircraft out of the sky.
"I took it to three dumps to try to get rid of it and they told me to get lost."
Link
8/07/2007
Enough determination, and you can see anyone naked
First, every single one of the many thousands of photographs was fed into a shredder, and then each of the shreds was fed to the flames, thereby insuring that not a single intact or recognizable image of the nude Yale students -- some of whom had gone on to assume positions of importance in government and society -- would survive.
It was the Bonfire of the Best and the Brightest, and the assumption was that the last embarrassing reminders of a peculiar practice, which masqueraded as science and now looked like a kind of kinky voodoo ritual, had gone up in smoke. The assumption was wrong. Thousands upon thousands of photos from Yale and other elite schools survive to this day.
Link
It was the Bonfire of the Best and the Brightest, and the assumption was that the last embarrassing reminders of a peculiar practice, which masqueraded as science and now looked like a kind of kinky voodoo ritual, had gone up in smoke. The assumption was wrong. Thousands upon thousands of photos from Yale and other elite schools survive to this day.
Link
8/04/2007
L'Inconnue de la Seine
L'Inconnue de la Seine (from French for the unknown woman of the Seine) was an unidentified young woman whose death mask became a popular fixture on the walls of artist homes after 1900. Her visage was the inspiration for numerous literary works in both French and other languages as well.
The legend of her suicide begins in 1900, when her body was pulled out of the Seine River in Paris. A worker at the Paris morgue was so taken by her beauty that he made a plaster cast of her face. In the following years, numerous copies were produced, and these copies quickly became a fashionable morbid fixture in Parisian Bohemian society. In similar fashion to the smile of Mona Lisa, there were numerous speculations on what clues the eerily happy expression in her face could offer about her life, her death, and her place in society.
The afterimages provided another interesting aspect to her popularity. The original cast had been photographed, and new casts were created back from the film negatives. These new casts displayed details that are usually lost in bodies taken from rivers and lakes, but the apparent preservation of these details in the visage of the cast seemed to only reinforce its authenticity.
Critic A. Alvarez writes in The Savage God: "I am told that a whole generation of German girls modeled their looks on her." According to Hans Hesse of the University of Sussex, Alvarez reports, "the Inconnue became the erotic ideal of the period, as Bardot was for the 1950s. He thinks that German actresses like Elisabeth Bergner modeled themselves on her. She was finally displaced as a paradigm by Greta Garbo.
The legend of her suicide begins in 1900, when her body was pulled out of the Seine River in Paris. A worker at the Paris morgue was so taken by her beauty that he made a plaster cast of her face. In the following years, numerous copies were produced, and these copies quickly became a fashionable morbid fixture in Parisian Bohemian society. In similar fashion to the smile of Mona Lisa, there were numerous speculations on what clues the eerily happy expression in her face could offer about her life, her death, and her place in society.
The afterimages provided another interesting aspect to her popularity. The original cast had been photographed, and new casts were created back from the film negatives. These new casts displayed details that are usually lost in bodies taken from rivers and lakes, but the apparent preservation of these details in the visage of the cast seemed to only reinforce its authenticity.
Critic A. Alvarez writes in The Savage God: "I am told that a whole generation of German girls modeled their looks on her." According to Hans Hesse of the University of Sussex, Alvarez reports, "the Inconnue became the erotic ideal of the period, as Bardot was for the 1950s. He thinks that German actresses like Elisabeth Bergner modeled themselves on her. She was finally displaced as a paradigm by Greta Garbo.
7/30/2007
7/26/2007
It is a remarkable bit of irony, that finger. Venerated, kept in reliquary, subjected to the same treatment as a Saint. But this finger belonged to no Saint. It is the long bony finger of an enemy of the church, a heretic. A man so dangerous to the religious institution he was made a prisoner in his own home. It sits in a small glass egg atop an inscribed marble base in the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, or the History of Science Museum in Florence, Italy. … As with a fine wine, it took some years for Galileo’s finger to age into something worth snapping off his skeletal hand. The finger was removed by one Anton Francesco Gori on March 12, 1737, 95 years after Galileo’s death. Passed around for a couple hundred years it finally came to rest in the Florence History of Science Museum. Today is sits among lodestones and telescopes, the only human fragment in a museum devoted entirely to scientific instruments. It is hard to know how Galileo would have felt about the final resting place of his finger. Whether the finger points upwards to the sky, where Galileo glimpsed the glory of the universe and saw God in mathematics, or if it sits eternally defiant to the church that condemned him, is for the viewer to decide.
7/24/2007
He kills himself
Pakistan interior ministry spokesman Javed Cheema told the AFP news agency that Mehsud blew himself up with a hand grenade after soldiers raided a hideout in the Zhob district of Balochistan.
"Abdullah Mehsud blew himself up with a grenade and died when security forces raided his hideout." he said.
It appears he did not want to be captured alive
-Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema
Taleban commander 'kills himself'
"Abdullah Mehsud blew himself up with a grenade and died when security forces raided his hideout." he said.
It appears he did not want to be captured alive
-Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier Javed Cheema
Taleban commander 'kills himself'
7/20/2007
Bush to Have Colon Exam
US President George W Bush will have a routine colonoscopy on Saturday, temporarily transferring power to the vice-president, the White House says.
Under the US constitution, power can be transferred to the vice-president if the president is incapacitated.
Under the US constitution, power can be transferred to the vice-president if the president is incapacitated.
7/19/2007
What is normal?
Officials on Wednesday said the concentration of noxious gases in the affected region was 23 times above normal.
Link
Link
7/15/2007
Contradiction
Rafiqullah said he was trained to drive a car and shown suicide attack videos at the madrassa in Pakistan.
He crossed the border and was met by a man who gave him a suicide vest. Rafiqullah said he did not want to carry out the attack but the man threatened to kill him.
Link
He crossed the border and was met by a man who gave him a suicide vest. Rafiqullah said he did not want to carry out the attack but the man threatened to kill him.
Link
7/13/2007
Racing Without Legs
South African amputee runner Oscar Pistorius has finished second in a 400m race with able-bodied athletes at the Golden League meet in Rome.
Later in the meeting, a French long-jumper was seriously injured when he was hit in the back by a stray javelin.
Link
Later in the meeting, a French long-jumper was seriously injured when he was hit in the back by a stray javelin.
Link
Augustus Owsley Stanley III
His all-meat diet is a well-known example. When he was younger, Bear read about the Eskimos eating only fish and meat and became convinced that humans are meant to be exclusively carnivorous. The members of the Grateful Dead remember living with Bear for several months in 1966 in Los Angeles, where the refrigerator contained only bottles of milk and a slab of steak, meat they fried and ate straight out of the pan. His heart attack several years ago had nothing to do with his strict regimen, according to Bear, but more likely the result of some poisonous broccoli his mother made him eat as a youth.
Link
Link
6/27/2007
I recently took up ice sculpting. Last night I made an ice cube. This morning I made 12, I was prolific.
-Mitch Hedberg
Link
-Mitch Hedberg
Link
6/19/2007
"The action by the British Queen in knighting Salman Rushdie, the apostate, is an unwise one," he said to loud applause from MPs.
Protest against Salman Rushdie's knighthood in Lahore
The knighthood has generated anger across Pakistan
"The British monarch lives under this illusion that Britain is still a 19th Century superpower and that bestowing titles is something still deemed important."
The knighthood has also been strongly condemned by the assembly of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, which described it as "a campaign waged in Europe and the West to hurt the feelings of Muslims".
Link
6/14/2007
Gynecomastia
Plastic surgeons in the United States suggested that the rise in popularity of professional golf may have also contributed to public awareness of gynecomastia; several prominent popular players have slightly enlarged chests.
Link
Link
6/11/2007
Flat Earth Society FAQ
Q: "Why do the all the world Governments say the Earth is round?"
A: It's a conspiracy
Q: "What about NASA? Don't they have photos to prove that the Earth is round?"
A: NASA is part of the conspiracy too. The photos are faked.
Q: "Why has no-one taken a photo of the Earth that proves it is flat?"
A: The government prevents people from getting close enough to the Ice Wall to take a picture.
Q: "How did NASA create these images with the computer technology available at the time?"
A: Since NASA did not send rockets into space, they instead spent the money on developing advanced computers and imaging software instead
Q: "What's underneath the Earth?" aka "What's on the bottom?" aka "What's on the other side?"
A: This is unknown. Some believe it to be just rocks, others believe the Earth rests on the back of four elephants and a turtle.
Link
A: It's a conspiracy
Q: "What about NASA? Don't they have photos to prove that the Earth is round?"
A: NASA is part of the conspiracy too. The photos are faked.
Q: "Why has no-one taken a photo of the Earth that proves it is flat?"
A: The government prevents people from getting close enough to the Ice Wall to take a picture.
Q: "How did NASA create these images with the computer technology available at the time?"
A: Since NASA did not send rockets into space, they instead spent the money on developing advanced computers and imaging software instead
Q: "What's underneath the Earth?" aka "What's on the bottom?" aka "What's on the other side?"
A: This is unknown. Some believe it to be just rocks, others believe the Earth rests on the back of four elephants and a turtle.
Link
6/10/2007
June 10, 2005
Police still have no suspects after a burning body was found in the parking lot of Yankee Stadium early Friday morning.
Investigators say the victim was on fire when they found him under the Macombs Dam Bridge on Jerome Avenue and 161st Street.
It's not clear whether he was alive at the time he was set on fire.
He had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and may have been shot.
Investigators say the victim was on fire when they found him under the Macombs Dam Bridge on Jerome Avenue and 161st Street.
It's not clear whether he was alive at the time he was set on fire.
He had suffered blunt force trauma to the head and may have been shot.
6/06/2007
Cat Photography
A camera is attached to a cat named Mr. Lee, and photos are taken periodically throughout the day from his perspective. The resulting photo journal details 4 days in the life of an outdoor cat as he meets other cats, sees snakes, and hides beneath cars.
Link
Link
Breastmilk cheese
My extensive experience in making Paneer compelled me to try something different, that is, making Paneer out of my own breastmilk. Basically this is human cheese. Why would I do that? Well, basically, there are about twenty bags (each 150ml) of frozen breastmilk in the fridge, and they have passed their three months drinkability period, which means I would not be able to donate the milk like I did before. But the milk is still less than six month old, which is the actual expiry date. So what do I do with it? I could make cream soup like I did several months ago. But I really wanted to try something different, and making Breast Milk Paneer sounds really exciting.
Link
Link
6/03/2007
6/01/2007
He's not a monkey
"They're using a real monkey," Hirsch says. "Just don't call him that. He's a chimpanzee. He gets upset if you call him a monkey."
Link
Link
5/27/2007
Ed Gein was an American serial killer.
Searching the house, authorities found
* severed heads acting as bedposts in the bedroom;
* skin used to make lampshades and upholster chair seats;
* skulls made into soup bowls;
* a human heart
* a face mask made out of real facial skin found in a paper bag;
* a necklace of human lips;
* a waistcoat (which he called a "mammary vest") made up of a vagina and breasts stitched together;
* other items fashioned from the parts of human bodies, including a belt made from nipples.
*socks made from human flesh.
-Edward Theodore Gein
* severed heads acting as bedposts in the bedroom;
* skin used to make lampshades and upholster chair seats;
* skulls made into soup bowls;
* a human heart
* a face mask made out of real facial skin found in a paper bag;
* a necklace of human lips;
* a waistcoat (which he called a "mammary vest") made up of a vagina and breasts stitched together;
* other items fashioned from the parts of human bodies, including a belt made from nipples.
*socks made from human flesh.
-Edward Theodore Gein
5/26/2007
Perverse
An unusual perversion: the desire to be injured by an automobile operated by a woman.
American Journal of Psychiatry. 1960 May;116:1032.
KEELER MH.
American Journal of Psychiatry. 1960 May;116:1032.
KEELER MH.
5/25/2007
5/23/2007
This girl in my class didn't know there was a third Pirates of the Caribbean. I mean it's coming out this Thursday. She should be shot.
5/22/2007
5/20/2007
Objectophilia
Bill Rifka shares his homoerotic inclination for objects with 41-year-old Doro B., who fell for a metal processing machine while at work and "immediately sensed a female presence." The machine has been enticing her with its "sweet hum" ever since. But sometimes it also makes Doro worry: "My sweetie had one of her tantrums and junked her measuring appliance," she noted fearfully in her online journal.
Link
Link
5/17/2007
The New Pollution
The pollution in Calcutta, India has gotten so bad that traffic police have to wear oxygen tanks to prevent respiratory diseases such as lung cancer.
-via BBC News
-via BBC News
5/16/2007
Occasionally, I'd say it goes slightly too far, such as the rape scenes that seem to go on forever, and the forced abortion scene, which I really could've lived without.
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST
5/15/2007
Shrinking Genitalia and Mass Hysteria
In his book Little Green Men, Meowing Nuns and Head-Hunting Panics: A Study of Mass Psychogenic Illness and Social Delusion, Robert E. Bartholomew writes,
Genital Retraction Syndrome and Genital theft, is called Koro in China
“In parts of Asia, entire regions are occasionally overwhelmed by terror-stricken men who believe that their penises are shriveling up or retracting into their bodies, whereupon they will die. Those affected often place clamps or strings onto the precious organs or have family members hold the penis in relays until an appropriate treatment is obtained, often from traditional healers. … Episodes can endure for weeks or months and affect thousands. Psychiatrists are divided as to the cause of these imaginary scares. Some believe that it is a form of group psychosis triggered by stress, while others view it as a mass hysteria. … While these episodes may appear humurous to Westerners, they offer a valuable lesson because they show how vulnerable we all are to mass delusion.”
Genital Retraction Syndrome and Genital theft, is called Koro in China
Jerry Falwell, 73, dead of heart rythm abnormality
Driven into politics by the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established the right to an abortion, Falwell founded the Moral Majority in 1979. One of the conservative lobbying group's greatest triumphs came just a year later, when Ronald Reagan was elected president.
...
Over the years, Falwell waged a landmark libel case against Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt over a raunchy parody ad, and created a furor in 1999 when one of his publications suggested that that the purse-carrying "Teletubbies" character Tinky Winky was gay.
-From The Associated Press
"Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions." -Falwell
...
Over the years, Falwell waged a landmark libel case against Hustler magazine founder Larry Flynt over a raunchy parody ad, and created a furor in 1999 when one of his publications suggested that that the purse-carrying "Teletubbies" character Tinky Winky was gay.
-From The Associated Press
"Christians, like slaves and soldiers, ask no questions." -Falwell
5/13/2007
preschoolers thoughts on aging
-First they grow up as a young kid. They eat healthy and they get taller. And soon they get much taller and they go to heaven. If they can't walk, they get a wheelchair.
-They have scrabble scrabble just on her face. And she's got shiny teeth.
What happens to people when they get old?
-They have scrabble scrabble just on her face. And she's got shiny teeth.
What happens to people when they get old?
5/10/2007
Dangerous Chemistry
Golden Book of Chemistry (Download)
The Dangerous projects include: making chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen, and ethanol.
The book is long out of print, and used copies are very expensive (Amazon.com has used copies for over $100). Of course, in today's litigious environment, no major publisher would dare republish a book that had actual chemistry experiments in it, for fear getting sued. I have long wanted to own a copy of The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.
-Mark Frauenfelder
The Dangerous projects include: making chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen, and ethanol.
The book is long out of print, and used copies are very expensive (Amazon.com has used copies for over $100). Of course, in today's litigious environment, no major publisher would dare republish a book that had actual chemistry experiments in it, for fear getting sued. I have long wanted to own a copy of The Golden Book of Chemistry Experiments.
-Mark Frauenfelder
5/08/2007
Habeas Schmabeas
President Bush sounded almost misty-eyed as he spoke of how Britain had written many of the chapters in the history of human freedom, from Magna Carta to philosophers such as John Locke. “Our two nations hold fundamental values in common, including the rights and dignity of the individual,” Mr Bush intoned. Then he cut to the chase, describing how the two countries were advancing the causes of liberty, and fighting tyranny and oppression, whether in London, New York, Kabul or Baghdad. “Our work remains the surest path to peace,” he said.
This American Life presents a report on Guantanamo Bay -Link
This American Life presents a report on Guantanamo Bay -Link
"It was only as late as in 1994 that I succeeded in proving myself alive," Bihari, 52, said.
-Reuters
-Reuters
5/05/2007
Justice
"I'm very sorry and from now on I'm going to pay complete attention to everything"
-Paris Hilton
Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton has been jailed for 45 days after being found guilty of violating her probation for a drink-driving conviction.
A Los Angeles judge ruled she must start her sentence on 5 June and has no prospect of an early release.
love, BBC News
-Paris Hilton
Celebrity heiress Paris Hilton has been jailed for 45 days after being found guilty of violating her probation for a drink-driving conviction.
A Los Angeles judge ruled she must start her sentence on 5 June and has no prospect of an early release.
love, BBC News
5/02/2007
Amesbury Archer
Tests on the bones showed that the Archer was a man aged between 35 and 45. He was strongly built, but he had an abscess on his jaw and had suffered an accident a few years before his death that had ripped his left knee cap off. As a result of this he walked with a straight left which swung out to the side of him, and suffered from an infection in his bones which would have caused him constant pain.
link
link
5/01/2007
In Ducks, War of the Sexes Plays Out in the Evolution of Genitalia
“This guy’s the champion,” said Patricia Brennan, a behavioral ecologist, leaning over the nether regions of a duck — a Meller’s duck from Madagascar, to be specific — and carefully coaxing out his phallus.
When she first visited in January, the phalluses were the size of rice grains. Now many of them are growing rapidly. The champion phallus from this Meller’s duck is a long, spiraling tentacle. Some ducks grow phalluses as long as their entire body. In the fall, the genitalia will disappear, only to reappear next spring.
-New York Times
When she first visited in January, the phalluses were the size of rice grains. Now many of them are growing rapidly. The champion phallus from this Meller’s duck is a long, spiraling tentacle. Some ducks grow phalluses as long as their entire body. In the fall, the genitalia will disappear, only to reappear next spring.
-New York Times
4/29/2007
Versions of the Pledge: (changes between versions are shown in bold; for reason of the changes, please see the History section)
* 1892:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
* 1892 to 1923:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
* 1923 to 1954:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
* 1954 to Present:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
-wikipedia
* 1892:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
* 1892 to 1923:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
* 1923 to 1954:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
* 1954 to Present:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."
-wikipedia
4/27/2007
Monster Mash singer dies aged 69
The singer who found fame with the novelty song Monster Mash, has died.
Bobby "Boris" Pickett, whose spot-on Boris Karloff impression made the record a Halloween favourite, died of leukaemia aged 69 in Los Angeles.
While famous as a one-hit wonder, the song charted three times in the US - in 1962, 1970 and in 1973 when it also reached number three in the UK.
Pickett performed until last year, joking at his shows: "And now I'm going to do a medley of my hit".
Bobby "Boris" Pickett, whose spot-on Boris Karloff impression made the record a Halloween favourite, died of leukaemia aged 69 in Los Angeles.
While famous as a one-hit wonder, the song charted three times in the US - in 1962, 1970 and in 1973 when it also reached number three in the UK.
Pickett performed until last year, joking at his shows: "And now I'm going to do a medley of my hit".
4/26/2007
4/25/2007
Parasitic twins
One doctor recalled that day in the operating room.
“He just put his hand inside and he said there are a lot of bones inside,” she said. “First, one limb came out, then another limb came out. Then some part of genitalia, then some part of hair, some limbs, jaws, limbs, hair.”
Inside Bhagat’s stomach was a strange, half-formed creature that had feet and hands that were very developed. Its fingernails were quite long.
“We were horrified. We were confused and amazed,” Mehta said.
At first glance, it may look as if Bhagat had given birth. Actually, Mehta had removed the mutated body of Bhagat’s twin brother from his stomach.
“He just put his hand inside and he said there are a lot of bones inside,” she said. “First, one limb came out, then another limb came out. Then some part of genitalia, then some part of hair, some limbs, jaws, limbs, hair.”
Inside Bhagat’s stomach was a strange, half-formed creature that had feet and hands that were very developed. Its fingernails were quite long.
“We were horrified. We were confused and amazed,” Mehta said.
At first glance, it may look as if Bhagat had given birth. Actually, Mehta had removed the mutated body of Bhagat’s twin brother from his stomach.
4/22/2007
Last month, a French student named Alexis Lemaire became the first human to mentally calculate the 13th root of a 200-digit number:
83689566882369569398
37328662225645224726
78046649383667749735
75581573035075704089
62528802385783156837
68029349382010563433
63855595931514450415
14949070941909770444
93056602684027718696
24155688082648640933
He arrived at the correct 16-digit answer, 2391481494636373, without writing or typing, in 513.55 seconds. Last year he set a new unofficial record for finding the 13th root of a 100-digit number: 3.62 seconds.
-Extracted from The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society
83689566882369569398
37328662225645224726
78046649383667749735
75581573035075704089
62528802385783156837
68029349382010563433
63855595931514450415
14949070941909770444
93056602684027718696
24155688082648640933
He arrived at the correct 16-digit answer, 2391481494636373, without writing or typing, in 513.55 seconds. Last year he set a new unofficial record for finding the 13th root of a 100-digit number: 3.62 seconds.
-Extracted from The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society
4/21/2007
The idea concerns the fact that this country wants nostalgia. They want to go back as far as they can -- even if it's only as far as last week. Not to face now or tomorrow, but to face backwards. And yesterday was the day of our cinema heroes riding to the rescue at the last possible moment. The day of the man in the white hat or the man on the white horse - or the man who always came to save America at the last moment -- someone always came to save America at the last moment -- especially in 'B' movies. And when America found itself having a hard time facing the future, they looked for people like John Wayne. But since John Wayne was no longer available, they settled for Ronald Reagan -- and it has placed us in a situation that we can only look at -- like a 'B' movie.
-Gil Scott-Heron
-Gil Scott-Heron
4/18/2007
1,428 year old business dies
The world's oldest continuously operating family business ended its impressive run last year. Japanese temple builder Kongo Gumi, in operation under the founders' descendants since 578, succumbed to excess debt and an unfavorable business climate in 2006.
-Business Week
-Business Week
4/17/2007
If Mama Cass had shared her last sandwich with Karen Carpenter, they'd both be alive. -Robin Williams
Ritual Suicide of Samurai
In time, committing seppuku came to involve a detailed ritual. A Samurai was bathed, dressed in white robes, fed his favorite meal, and when he was finished, his instrument was placed on his plate. Dressed ceremonially, with his sword placed in front of him and sometimes seated on special cloths, the warrior would prepare for death by writing a death poem. With his selected attendant (kaishakunin, his second) standing by, he would open his kimono (clothing), take up his wakizashi (short sword) or a tantō (knife) and plunge it into his abdomen, making a left-to-right cut. The kaishakunin would then perform daki-kubi, a cut in which the warrior was all but decapitated (a slight band of flesh is left attaching the head to the body). Because of the precision necessary for such a maneuver, the second was often a skilled swordsman. The principal agreed in advance when the kaishaku made his cut, usually as soon as the dagger was plunged into the abdomen.
4/16/2007
I know that when I go to Orlando, the Mouse is going to fingerprint me and search my bags, because the Fourth Amendment isn't a "Disney value."
-Cory Doctorow from Why Online Games Are Dictatorships
-Cory Doctorow from Why Online Games Are Dictatorships
"I was sitting in class when we heard loud popping noises a couple rooms down... The teacher and a student went into the hallway and rushed back in and told everybody to get down. We put a table against the door and had a few students holding down the door. The gunman tried to shoulder his way in and when he saw that he couldn't, he put two shots through the door it was the scariest moment of my life..."
-Ruiqi Zhang, a computer engineering major, who was in Norris 205 this morning
-Ruiqi Zhang, a computer engineering major, who was in Norris 205 this morning
4/14/2007
4/12/2007
But there were too many corpses to bury. So instead the Nazis sent in guys with flamethrowers. All these civilians' remains were burned to ashes.
-Kurt Vonnegut
-Kurt Vonnegut
4/07/2007
Nematodes
If all the matter in the universe except the nematodes were swept away, our world would still be dimly recognizable, and if, as disembodied spirits, we could then investigate it, we should find its mountains, hills, vales, rivers, lakes and oceans represented by a thin film of nematodes. The location of towns would be decipherable, since for every massing of human beings there would be a corresponding massing of certain nematodes. Trees would still stand in ghostly rows representing our streets and highways. The location of the various plants and animals would still be decipherable, and, had we sufficient knowledge, in many cases even their species could be determined by an examination of their erstwhile nematode parasites.
— N.A.Cobb
— N.A.Cobb
4/05/2007
3/24/2007
3/21/2007
3/18/2007
BA sat corpse in first class
Steven Swinford
A BRITISH Airways passenger travelling first class has described how he woke up on a long-haul flight to find that cabin crew had placed a corpse in his row.
The body of a woman in her seventies, who died after the plane left Delhi for Heathrow, was carried by cabin staff from economy to first class, where there was more space. Her body was propped up in a seat, using pillows.
The woman’s daughter accompanied the corpse, and spent the rest of the journey wailing in grief.
Paul Trinder, who awoke to see the body at the end of his row, last week described the journey as “deeply disturbing”, and complained that the airline dismissed his concerns by telling him to “get over it”.
“It was a complete mess — they seemed to have no proper plans in place to deal with the situation,” said Trinder, 54, a businessman from Brackley, Northamptonshire.
The woman died during a nine-hour flight on a Boeing 747. Trinder was catching up on sleep when he was woken by a commotion and opened his eyes to see staff manoeuvring the body into a seat.
“I didn’t have a clue what was going on. The stewards just plonked the body down without saying a thing. I remember looking at this frail, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill,” said Trinder.
“She kept slipping under the seatbelt and moving about with the motion of the plane. When I asked what was going on I was shocked to hear she was dead.”
The woman’s daughter and son-in-law arrived soon after and began grieving. Trinder said: “It was terrifying. I put my earplugs in but couldn’t get away from the fact that there was a woman wailing at the top of her voice just yards away. It was a really intense, primal sound.
“I felt helpless. Grief is a very personal thing; it’s not as if there was anything I could do or say.”
Trinder, chief executive of Capital Safety, which makes products for the building industry, holds a BA gold card and travels more than 200,000 miles a year with the airline.
He became particularly concerned about the state of the body. “When you have a decaying body on a plane at room temperature for more than five hours there are significant health and safety risks,” he said.
After the plane landed, those in first class remained on board for an hour before police and a coroner gave the all-clear.
“The police even started interviewing me as a potential witness, although I had no idea what had happened to the woman. I just kept thinking to myself: ‘I’ve paid more than £3,000 for this’,” Trinder said.
When contacted by BA about the complaint, Trinder says he was told he would not be compensated and should “get over” the incident.
BA said the dead woman was taken into first class because the rest of the plane was full.
A spokesman said: “When a customer passes away on board it is always difficult and we apologise for any distress caused.”
He said there were about 10 deaths each year out of 36m passengers.
Other carriers use different procedures. Singapore Airlines has introduced “corpse cupboards” on its Airbus 340-500 aircraft. Cabin crews use the locker if there is no empty row of seats to place a corpse.
A BRITISH Airways passenger travelling first class has described how he woke up on a long-haul flight to find that cabin crew had placed a corpse in his row.
The body of a woman in her seventies, who died after the plane left Delhi for Heathrow, was carried by cabin staff from economy to first class, where there was more space. Her body was propped up in a seat, using pillows.
The woman’s daughter accompanied the corpse, and spent the rest of the journey wailing in grief.
Paul Trinder, who awoke to see the body at the end of his row, last week described the journey as “deeply disturbing”, and complained that the airline dismissed his concerns by telling him to “get over it”.
“It was a complete mess — they seemed to have no proper plans in place to deal with the situation,” said Trinder, 54, a businessman from Brackley, Northamptonshire.
The woman died during a nine-hour flight on a Boeing 747. Trinder was catching up on sleep when he was woken by a commotion and opened his eyes to see staff manoeuvring the body into a seat.
“I didn’t have a clue what was going on. The stewards just plonked the body down without saying a thing. I remember looking at this frail, sparrow-like woman and thinking she was very ill,” said Trinder.
“She kept slipping under the seatbelt and moving about with the motion of the plane. When I asked what was going on I was shocked to hear she was dead.”
The woman’s daughter and son-in-law arrived soon after and began grieving. Trinder said: “It was terrifying. I put my earplugs in but couldn’t get away from the fact that there was a woman wailing at the top of her voice just yards away. It was a really intense, primal sound.
“I felt helpless. Grief is a very personal thing; it’s not as if there was anything I could do or say.”
Trinder, chief executive of Capital Safety, which makes products for the building industry, holds a BA gold card and travels more than 200,000 miles a year with the airline.
He became particularly concerned about the state of the body. “When you have a decaying body on a plane at room temperature for more than five hours there are significant health and safety risks,” he said.
After the plane landed, those in first class remained on board for an hour before police and a coroner gave the all-clear.
“The police even started interviewing me as a potential witness, although I had no idea what had happened to the woman. I just kept thinking to myself: ‘I’ve paid more than £3,000 for this’,” Trinder said.
When contacted by BA about the complaint, Trinder says he was told he would not be compensated and should “get over” the incident.
BA said the dead woman was taken into first class because the rest of the plane was full.
A spokesman said: “When a customer passes away on board it is always difficult and we apologise for any distress caused.”
He said there were about 10 deaths each year out of 36m passengers.
Other carriers use different procedures. Singapore Airlines has introduced “corpse cupboards” on its Airbus 340-500 aircraft. Cabin crews use the locker if there is no empty row of seats to place a corpse.
3/17/2007
3/15/2007
3/05/2007
The murder of Rasputin has become legend, some of it invented by the very men who killed him, so that it becomes difficult to discern exactly what happened. However, it is generally agreed that on December 16, 1916, having decided that Rasputin's influence over the tsarina made him too dangerous to the empire, a group of nobles led by Prince Felix Yusupov, and the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich (one of the few Romanov family members to escape the annihilation of the family) apparently lured Rasputin to the Yusupovs' Moika Palace, where they served him cakes and red wine laced with a large amount of cyanide. According to the legend, Rasputin was not affected, although there was enough poison to kill ten men. Maria Rasputin's account says that if her father ate poison, it was not in the cakes or wine, because after the attack by Guseva, he had hyperacidity, and avoided anything with sugar. She expressed doubt that he was poisoned at all.
Determined to finish the job — and now we are fully in the realm of narrative legend — Yusupov worried that Rasputin would live until morning, so that the conspirators wouldn't have time to conceal his body. He ran upstairs to consult with the others, then came back down and shot Rasputin through the back with a revolver. Rasputin fell. The company then left the palace for a while. Yusupov, who had left without a coat, decided to return to grab one. While at the palace he went to check on the body, Rasputin opened his eyes, grabbed Felix by the throat, strangling him. Rasputin ominously whispered "you bad boy" in Yusupov's ear, and then threw him across the room and escaped. As he made his bid for freedom, the rest of the conspirators arrived and fired at him. After being hit three times in the back, he fell. As they neared his body, they found he remarkably was still struggling and trying to get up so they clubbed him into submission; then, after wrapping his body in a sheet, they threw him into the icy Neva River. Three days later the body of Rasputin — poisoned, shot four times, and badly beaten — was recovered from the river and autopsied. The cause of death was drowning. His arms were apparently found in an upright position, as if he had tried to claw his way out from under the ice. In the autopsy, it was found that he was poisoned, and that the poison alone should have killed him.
Subsequently, the Empress Alexandra buried Rasputin's body in the grounds of Tsarskoye Selo. After the February Revolution, a group of workers from Saint Petersburg uncovered Rasputin's body, carried it into a nearby wood and burned it.
-wikipedia.org
Determined to finish the job — and now we are fully in the realm of narrative legend — Yusupov worried that Rasputin would live until morning, so that the conspirators wouldn't have time to conceal his body. He ran upstairs to consult with the others, then came back down and shot Rasputin through the back with a revolver. Rasputin fell. The company then left the palace for a while. Yusupov, who had left without a coat, decided to return to grab one. While at the palace he went to check on the body, Rasputin opened his eyes, grabbed Felix by the throat, strangling him. Rasputin ominously whispered "you bad boy" in Yusupov's ear, and then threw him across the room and escaped. As he made his bid for freedom, the rest of the conspirators arrived and fired at him. After being hit three times in the back, he fell. As they neared his body, they found he remarkably was still struggling and trying to get up so they clubbed him into submission; then, after wrapping his body in a sheet, they threw him into the icy Neva River. Three days later the body of Rasputin — poisoned, shot four times, and badly beaten — was recovered from the river and autopsied. The cause of death was drowning. His arms were apparently found in an upright position, as if he had tried to claw his way out from under the ice. In the autopsy, it was found that he was poisoned, and that the poison alone should have killed him.
Subsequently, the Empress Alexandra buried Rasputin's body in the grounds of Tsarskoye Selo. After the February Revolution, a group of workers from Saint Petersburg uncovered Rasputin's body, carried it into a nearby wood and burned it.
-wikipedia.org
3/02/2007
Italian granny finds grenade in groceries
By Reuters | February 28, 2007
NAPLES, Italy --74-year-old Italian grandmother who bought a sack of potatoes at the her local market found a live grenade among the spuds.
"I found a bomb in the potatoes," Olga Mauriello said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
"I went to the market to buy some potatoes and that's where the bomb was. But this bomb was covered in dirt, and I put it in water and got all dirt off. And then I realised 'It's a bomb'!"
Police said the pine cone-shaped grenade, which had no pin and was still active, was the same type used by U.S. soldiers in Europe in World War Two. Authorities believe the mix-up happened at a farm in France, where the grenade was plucked from the ground along with potatoes.
To the woman's relief, police and explosives experts in the small town of San Giorgio a Cremano, near Naples, recovered the grenade and safely detonated it on Wednesday.
But Mauriello was still shaking off her close brush with death. It didn't look like a potato and it was heavier than one. But what if she had cooked it?
"If I hadn't felt its weight, I wouldn't even have realised that it was a bomb," she said.
NAPLES, Italy --74-year-old Italian grandmother who bought a sack of potatoes at the her local market found a live grenade among the spuds.
"I found a bomb in the potatoes," Olga Mauriello said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
"I went to the market to buy some potatoes and that's where the bomb was. But this bomb was covered in dirt, and I put it in water and got all dirt off. And then I realised 'It's a bomb'!"
Police said the pine cone-shaped grenade, which had no pin and was still active, was the same type used by U.S. soldiers in Europe in World War Two. Authorities believe the mix-up happened at a farm in France, where the grenade was plucked from the ground along with potatoes.
To the woman's relief, police and explosives experts in the small town of San Giorgio a Cremano, near Naples, recovered the grenade and safely detonated it on Wednesday.
But Mauriello was still shaking off her close brush with death. It didn't look like a potato and it was heavier than one. But what if she had cooked it?
"If I hadn't felt its weight, I wouldn't even have realised that it was a bomb," she said.
3/01/2007
2/17/2007
Turtle eaten by golden retriever lives
Thu Feb 15, 10:51 PM ET
BRANDON, Fla. - A palm-sized pet turtle and the golden retriever that gobbled it up survived the misadventure thanks to the quick actions of a 12-year-old girl, a veterinarian said.
The saga of Pepper the red-eared slider turtle and Bella the golden retriever started last week. Shelby Terihay, 12, moved her pet pond turtles indoors to protect them from a cold snap — a plan that worked well until Bella found some of the turtles in a bathtub, The Tampa Tribune reported.
A quick headcount confirmed Bella had swallowed one of the turtles. Shelby insisted on a rescue mission and, on the advice of a vet, her parents made Bella vomit. Out came Pepper, still alive despite a shattered shell and an estimated 10 minutes inside Bella's belly.
"This was definitely a first for me," veterinarian David Thomassy said.
Thomassy patched up Pepper's shell and credited Shelby with saving Bella, too.
"The turtle would definitely have caused an obstruction," Thomassy said. "Without cutting it out directly, it eventually would have killed the dog."
snagged from yahoo news
BRANDON, Fla. - A palm-sized pet turtle and the golden retriever that gobbled it up survived the misadventure thanks to the quick actions of a 12-year-old girl, a veterinarian said.
The saga of Pepper the red-eared slider turtle and Bella the golden retriever started last week. Shelby Terihay, 12, moved her pet pond turtles indoors to protect them from a cold snap — a plan that worked well until Bella found some of the turtles in a bathtub, The Tampa Tribune reported.
A quick headcount confirmed Bella had swallowed one of the turtles. Shelby insisted on a rescue mission and, on the advice of a vet, her parents made Bella vomit. Out came Pepper, still alive despite a shattered shell and an estimated 10 minutes inside Bella's belly.
"This was definitely a first for me," veterinarian David Thomassy said.
Thomassy patched up Pepper's shell and credited Shelby with saving Bella, too.
"The turtle would definitely have caused an obstruction," Thomassy said. "Without cutting it out directly, it eventually would have killed the dog."
snagged from yahoo news
2/11/2007
Ronald Reagan is a rock
I went to a grotto in Amalfi in Italy, and there was this one rock that stood out of a small overhang on the side of the cave, and they lit it from the back, and it was considered very special because it made a silouhette which bore a striking resemblance to Ronald Reagan and several other world leaders.
-maximus
-maximus
2/08/2007
Penis ampuated from Iguana
Iguana erection update: vets at a zoo in Brussels have chopped off the penis of an iguana called Mozart, so he can walk again after suffering with a permanent erection.
Mozart's penis dilemma was reported in Metro last week.
Zoo officials decided on the operation after keepers called in experts when they saw the iguana was in some discomfort, and having trouble walking because of the permanent erection.
Remedies from cold water to introducing female iguanas into his enclosure all failed and it was decided that an operation was the only solution to the problem.
Zoo staff said the animal was recovering well after the procedure. And the operation is unlikely to reduce Mozart's opportunities to reproduce.
A spokesman at the zoo, speaking with the casual, blasé manner of someone who hasn't just had their penis cut off, said: 'Male iguanas - including Mozart - have two penises, so this is unlikely to be a big problem for him.'
Mozart's penis dilemma was reported in Metro last week.
Zoo officials decided on the operation after keepers called in experts when they saw the iguana was in some discomfort, and having trouble walking because of the permanent erection.
Remedies from cold water to introducing female iguanas into his enclosure all failed and it was decided that an operation was the only solution to the problem.
Zoo staff said the animal was recovering well after the procedure. And the operation is unlikely to reduce Mozart's opportunities to reproduce.
A spokesman at the zoo, speaking with the casual, blasé manner of someone who hasn't just had their penis cut off, said: 'Male iguanas - including Mozart - have two penises, so this is unlikely to be a big problem for him.'
1/25/2007
boys screams kill chickens
Hundreds of chickens have been found dead in eastern China - and a court has ruled that the cause of death was the screaming of a four-year-old boy who in turn had been scared by a barking dog.
According to a local newspaper, the bizarre sequence events began when the boy arrived at a village home in the eastern province of Jiangsu in the summer with his father who was delivering bottles of gas.
A villager was quoted as saying the little boy bent over the hen house window, screaming for a long time, after being scared by the dog.
"One neighbour told police that he had heard the boy's crying that afternoon and another villager confirmed the boy screaming by the hen house window," the newspaper said.
A court ruled the boy's screaming was "the only unexpected abnormal sound" and that the 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear.
The boy's father was ordered to pay around £117 in compensation to the owner of the chickens.
According to a local newspaper, the bizarre sequence events began when the boy arrived at a village home in the eastern province of Jiangsu in the summer with his father who was delivering bottles of gas.
A villager was quoted as saying the little boy bent over the hen house window, screaming for a long time, after being scared by the dog.
"One neighbour told police that he had heard the boy's crying that afternoon and another villager confirmed the boy screaming by the hen house window," the newspaper said.
A court ruled the boy's screaming was "the only unexpected abnormal sound" and that the 443 chickens trampled each other to death in fear.
The boy's father was ordered to pay around £117 in compensation to the owner of the chickens.
1/22/2007
Arias said with a sharp laugh as we were driving. But after the procedure, she says, strange feelings washed over her. “I remember having evil thoughts, about hurting children,” she said.
In her mind, all of her troubles — the drugs, the suicide attempt, the third and fourth abortions she went on to have, the wrestling match of a marriage she eventually entered — are the aftermath of her own original sin, the 1973 abortion. It’s a pattern she sees reflected everywhere: “In America we have a big drug problem, and we don’t realize it’s because of abortion.”
full nytimes article
In her mind, all of her troubles — the drugs, the suicide attempt, the third and fourth abortions she went on to have, the wrestling match of a marriage she eventually entered — are the aftermath of her own original sin, the 1973 abortion. It’s a pattern she sees reflected everywhere: “In America we have a big drug problem, and we don’t realize it’s because of abortion.”
full nytimes article
1/14/2007
In April 2005, a state-funded research project into cultured meat was launched in the Netherlands under Henk Haagsman, Professor of Meat Sciences at the University of Utrecht, and backed by the sausage manufacturer Stegeman.
1/13/2007
we have the technology?
Among Chuang-tzu’s many skills, he was an expert draftsman. The king asked him to draw a crab. Chuang-tzu replied that he needed five years, a country house, and twelve servants. Five years later the drawing was still not begun. “I need another five years,” said Chuang-tzu. The king granted them. At the end of these ten years, Chuang-tzu took up his brush and, in an instant, with a single stroke, he drew a crab, the most perfect crab ever seen.
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No one managed to climb the light poles to sit on the crossbars, as they did when Florida won the NCAA basketball championship in April, because the city greased the poles with PAM cooking spray. But some people tried.
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No one managed to climb the light poles to sit on the crossbars, as they did when Florida won the NCAA basketball championship in April, because the city greased the poles with PAM cooking spray. But some people tried.
1/11/2007
1/07/2007
1/02/2007
12/31/2006
happy new year
Predictions for the New Year
...
35 percent predict a cure for cancer will be found.
25 percent anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ.
...
The telephone poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Dec. 12-14 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
extracted from yahoo.com
...
35 percent predict a cure for cancer will be found.
25 percent anticipate the second coming of Jesus Christ.
...
The telephone poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Dec. 12-14 by Ipsos, an international polling firm. The margin of sampling error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.
extracted from yahoo.com
12/20/2006
Japanese man in virtual 'hibernation' survives 3 weeks without food or water
Published: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 | 9:24 AM ET
Canadian Press: HIROKO TABUCHI
TOKYO (AP) - A man who went missing in western Japan survived in near-freezing weather without food and water for over three weeks by falling into a state similar to hibernation, doctors said.
Mitsutaka Uchikoshi had almost no pulse, his organs had all but shut down and his body temperature was 71 degrees Fahrenheit or about 21.6 Celsius when he was discovered on Rokko mountain in late October, said doctors who treated him at the nearby Kobe City General Hospital. He had been missing for 24 days.
"On the second day, the sun was out, I was in a field, and I felt very comfortable. That's my last memory," Uchikoshi, 35, told reporters Tuesday before returning home from hospital. "I must have fallen asleep after that."
Doctors believe Uchikoshi, a city official from neighbouring Nishinomiya who was visiting the mountain for a barbecue party, tripped and later lost consciousness in a remote mountainous area.
His body temperature soon plunged as he lay in 10-degree Celsius weather, greatly slowing down his metabolism.
"(Uchikoshi) fell into a state similar to hibernation and many of his organs slowed, but his brain was protected," said Dr. Shinichi Sato, head of the hospital's emergency unit. "I believe his brain capacity has recovered 100 per cent. "
Continue Article
Uchikoshi was treated for severe hypothermia, multiple organ failure and blood loss from his fall, but was unlikely to experience any lasting ill effects, Sato said.
Doctors were still uncertain how exactly Uchikoshi survived for weeks with his metabolism almost at a standstill.
In animals like squirrels or bears, hibernation reduces the amount of oxygen that cells need to survive, protecting the brain and other organs from damage.
Published: Wednesday, December 20, 2006 | 9:24 AM ET
Canadian Press: HIROKO TABUCHI
TOKYO (AP) - A man who went missing in western Japan survived in near-freezing weather without food and water for over three weeks by falling into a state similar to hibernation, doctors said.
Mitsutaka Uchikoshi had almost no pulse, his organs had all but shut down and his body temperature was 71 degrees Fahrenheit or about 21.6 Celsius when he was discovered on Rokko mountain in late October, said doctors who treated him at the nearby Kobe City General Hospital. He had been missing for 24 days.
"On the second day, the sun was out, I was in a field, and I felt very comfortable. That's my last memory," Uchikoshi, 35, told reporters Tuesday before returning home from hospital. "I must have fallen asleep after that."
Doctors believe Uchikoshi, a city official from neighbouring Nishinomiya who was visiting the mountain for a barbecue party, tripped and later lost consciousness in a remote mountainous area.
His body temperature soon plunged as he lay in 10-degree Celsius weather, greatly slowing down his metabolism.
"(Uchikoshi) fell into a state similar to hibernation and many of his organs slowed, but his brain was protected," said Dr. Shinichi Sato, head of the hospital's emergency unit. "I believe his brain capacity has recovered 100 per cent. "
Continue Article
Uchikoshi was treated for severe hypothermia, multiple organ failure and blood loss from his fall, but was unlikely to experience any lasting ill effects, Sato said.
Doctors were still uncertain how exactly Uchikoshi survived for weeks with his metabolism almost at a standstill.
In animals like squirrels or bears, hibernation reduces the amount of oxygen that cells need to survive, protecting the brain and other organs from damage.
"I said, I'm not moving and he said, 'I'm not asking you, I'm telling you.' Then he spat in my face and at that point, I was in high adrenaline mode and called him a son-of-a-bitch, which I am not proud of. Then I spat back. At that point, he pushed me down and people on the bus were screaming that I was crazy. Four men surrounded me and slapped my face, punched me in the chest, pulled at my clothes, beat me, kicked me. My snood [hair covering] came off. I was fighting back and kicked one of the men in his privates. I will never forget the look on his face."
12/18/2006
Rules for tripping:
1) Cars can hurt you.
2) You cannot fly.
3) Its never a good time to die.
4) taking you clothes off will draw attention.
5) Keep mouth shut at all times in public.
6) Although you may see things that are not there, you won't NOT see things
that aren't there
7) don't forget how to burp
8) only carry a house-key, some loose change, and your address in your shoe
9) nobody can tell you are tripping till you tell them "I'm tripping".
10) no matter how fucked you think you are, you'll eventually come down.
1) Cars can hurt you.
2) You cannot fly.
3) Its never a good time to die.
4) taking you clothes off will draw attention.
5) Keep mouth shut at all times in public.
6) Although you may see things that are not there, you won't NOT see things
that aren't there
7) don't forget how to burp
8) only carry a house-key, some loose change, and your address in your shoe
9) nobody can tell you are tripping till you tell them "I'm tripping".
10) no matter how fucked you think you are, you'll eventually come down.
12/15/2006
Now the Swan it floated on the English river
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere
But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame
The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will
I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I'm listed with the enemies of love
And long ago she said I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I'm sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan
So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there -- I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face
Ah the Rose of High Romance it opened wide
A sun tanned woman yearned me through the summer
and the judges watched us from the other side
I told my mother Mother I must leave you
preserve my room but do not shed a tear
Should rumour of a shabby ending reach you
it was half my fault and half the atmosphere
But the Rose I sickened with a scarlet fever
and the Swan I tempted with a sense of shame
She said at last I was her finest lover
and if she withered I would be to blame
The judges said you missed it by a fraction
rise up and brace your troops for the attack
Ah the dreamers ride against the men of action
Oh see the men of action falling back
But I lingered on her thighs a fatal moment
I kissed her lips as though I thirsted still
My falsity had stung me like a hornet
The poison sank and it paralysed my will
I could not move to warn all the younger soldiers
that they had been deserted from above
So on battlefields from here to Barcelona
I'm listed with the enemies of love
And long ago she said I must be leaving,
Ah but keep my body here to lie upon
You can move it up and down and when I'm sleeping
Run some wire through that Rose and wind the Swan
So daily I renew my idle duty
I touch her here and there -- I know my place
I kiss her open mouth and I praise her beauty
and people call me traitor to my face
12/14/2006
12/13/2006
Oh, and as for the Sulphur Dumb Ass, you have no clue as to what the hell your talking about. Flowers of Sulphur contain binders and other crap, soil Sulphur does not. Do you have any clue as to how they mine and process soil Sulphur Dumb Ass? Well Do you? That's what I thought Dumb Ass!
Some people will say that using the "ramen-noodle-in-a-cup-with-vegetables" variety is easier since you only have to boil the water. Noodles in a cup are for wusses. And besides, why would you want vegetables in your noodles? It ruins the whole premise.
12/12/2006
Authorities in Volusia County, Fla., are searching for a naked man who breaks into the homes of women and tickles their feet as they sleep, according to a Local 6 News report.
Investigators said a woman who was asleep in her home on Katy Drive in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Saturday woke up at about 3 a.m. and found a man wearing only a baseball cap tickling her foot.
Police said when she screamed, the man dashed across the room with his hands covering his crotch.
The woman called 911 but the man had fled the area.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is working with the New Smyrna Beach Police Department on this case since several similar incidents happened in the area in 2005.
Police only have a vague description of the culprit.
Anyone with information on this case is urged to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
Investigators said a woman who was asleep in her home on Katy Drive in New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Saturday woke up at about 3 a.m. and found a man wearing only a baseball cap tickling her foot.
Police said when she screamed, the man dashed across the room with his hands covering his crotch.
The woman called 911 but the man had fled the area.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office is working with the New Smyrna Beach Police Department on this case since several similar incidents happened in the area in 2005.
Police only have a vague description of the culprit.
Anyone with information on this case is urged to call Crimeline at 800-423-TIPS.
Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.
The Formula
7X (Top Seekrut™) flavoring formula:
3.50 ml orange oil
1.00 ml lemon oil
1.00 ml nutmeg oil
1.25 ml cassia oil
0.25 ml coriander oil
0.25 ml neroli oil
2.75 ml lime oil
0.25 ml lavender oil
10.0 g gum arabic
3.00 ml water
OpenCola syrup:
2.00 tsp. 7X formula
3.50 tsp. 75% phosphoric acid or citric acid
2.28 l water
2.36 kg plain granulated white table sugar
0.50 tsp. caffeine (optional)
30.0 ml caramel color
Preparation
7X Flavoring:
Mix oils together in a cup. Add gum arabic, mix with a spoon. Add water and mix well. I used my trusty Braun mixer for this step, mixing for 4-5 minutes. You can also transfer to a blender for this step. Can be kept in a sealed glass jar in the fridge or at room temperature.
Please note that this mixture will separate. The Gum Arabic is essential to this part of the recipe, as you are mixing oil and water.
Syrup:
In a one gallon container (I used the Rubbermaid Servin' Saver Dry Food Keeper, 1.3 US Gal/4.92 l), take 5 mls of the 7X formula, add the 75% phosphoric or citric acid. Add the water, then the sugar. While mixing, add the caffeine, if desired. Make sure the caffeine is completely dissolved. Then add the caramel color. Mix thoroughly.
Cola:
To finish drink, take one part syrup and add 5 parts carbonated water.
7X (Top Seekrut™) flavoring formula:
3.50 ml orange oil
1.00 ml lemon oil
1.00 ml nutmeg oil
1.25 ml cassia oil
0.25 ml coriander oil
0.25 ml neroli oil
2.75 ml lime oil
0.25 ml lavender oil
10.0 g gum arabic
3.00 ml water
OpenCola syrup:
2.00 tsp. 7X formula
3.50 tsp. 75% phosphoric acid or citric acid
2.28 l water
2.36 kg plain granulated white table sugar
0.50 tsp. caffeine (optional)
30.0 ml caramel color
Preparation
7X Flavoring:
Mix oils together in a cup. Add gum arabic, mix with a spoon. Add water and mix well. I used my trusty Braun mixer for this step, mixing for 4-5 minutes. You can also transfer to a blender for this step. Can be kept in a sealed glass jar in the fridge or at room temperature.
Please note that this mixture will separate. The Gum Arabic is essential to this part of the recipe, as you are mixing oil and water.
Syrup:
In a one gallon container (I used the Rubbermaid Servin' Saver Dry Food Keeper, 1.3 US Gal/4.92 l), take 5 mls of the 7X formula, add the 75% phosphoric or citric acid. Add the water, then the sugar. While mixing, add the caffeine, if desired. Make sure the caffeine is completely dissolved. Then add the caramel color. Mix thoroughly.
Cola:
To finish drink, take one part syrup and add 5 parts carbonated water.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Man claims new fasting record, nobody cared
Agasi Vartanyan claims that he set a new world record for fasting, allegedly having gone 50 days with no food. Inspired by David Blaine, he had spent the time in a plastic cube on the Neva River near St. Petersburg, Russia. When he emerged, 23kg lighter than when he began the fast, Vartanyan yelled at reporters because nobody seemed to care about his stunt. From the Associated Press:
"I feel offended because my efforts did not attract much attention," the 46-year-old said. "Only local media wrote about it..."
Man claims new fasting record, nobody cared
Agasi Vartanyan claims that he set a new world record for fasting, allegedly having gone 50 days with no food. Inspired by David Blaine, he had spent the time in a plastic cube on the Neva River near St. Petersburg, Russia. When he emerged, 23kg lighter than when he began the fast, Vartanyan yelled at reporters because nobody seemed to care about his stunt. From the Associated Press:
"I feel offended because my efforts did not attract much attention," the 46-year-old said. "Only local media wrote about it..."
Krystof Azninski staked a strong claim to being Europe's most macho man by cutting off his own head in 1995. Azninski, 30, had been drinking with friends when it was suggested they strip naked and play some "men's games." Initially they hit each other over the head with frozen turnips, but then one man upped the ante by seizing a chainsaw and cutting off the end of his foot. Not to be outdone, Azninski grabbed the saw and, shouting "Watch this then," he swung at his own head and chopped it off.
Yesterday, 'mass hysteria' closed a school in Barnsley. According to an article in The Times, 30 or so pupils began feeling ill after watching a widely used biology video, and as other pupils heard about the malady, the effect spread.
The school officials eventually gathered everyone together in the school hall suspecting a gas leak, and paramedics advised the school should be closed.
The original class were taken to hospital, but no signs of physical illness have been reported and no gas leak has been found. The episode has been put down to 'mass hysteria'.
Extract via mind hacker
The school officials eventually gathered everyone together in the school hall suspecting a gas leak, and paramedics advised the school should be closed.
The original class were taken to hospital, but no signs of physical illness have been reported and no gas leak has been found. The episode has been put down to 'mass hysteria'.
Extract via mind hacker
Speaking of George W. Bush, Gloria Steinem said, "The world is divided into two kinds of people. People who divide the world into two kinds of people, and people who don't, and that's his problem."
Dr. Strangelove
Frontyard Treasure? Just the Shaft
Montclair man thought he'd find gold under his lawn, but the city shut down his mining operation.
By Ashley Powers, Times Staff Writer
June 15, 2006
Enrique Mora was convinced that his neatly trimmed lawn in a Montclair cul-de-sac topped a modern-day mother lode — so two weeks ago, he started digging for gold.
And digging and digging and digging, until the 60-foot shaft so alarmed neighbors that someone alerted the city Fire Department, which shut him down this week.
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"Just when you think you've seen everything, the Montclair gold rush?" said Scott Sherwood, the Fire Department code enforcement officer who put an end to Mora's quest.
Mora's flirtation with residential treasure began about a month ago, when he celebrated his retirement from a company that retrains injured workers by dropping nearly $600 on a metal detector.
As a test, Mora, 63, swept his frontyard. The detector went bonkers, he said. This was a conundrum: ignore the beeping or tear up the lawn?
Any newfound riches would allow him to realize his dream: to direct his own motion picture, likely about the Vietnam War, about which he wrote a book called "The Redcatcher Express."
It was an easy call.
So Mora hired three workers to carve a 3- to 4-foot-wide hole next to a stone pathway. This being Montclair, a 35,000-person town in western San Bernardino County, neighbors figured he was planting a palm tree — until a dirt mound grew as tall as Mora's one-story home.
"The workers told my husband that they were looking for water to fill a swimming pool, and my husband said, 'What do you think, I'm dumb?' " said Josefina Preciado, 50, who lives across from Mora on Granada Street.
Despite the stares and questions from neighbors, Mora kept his mission hush-hush, even after he discovered what he thought was gold dust.
"They were going to think I'm crazy," said Mora, a trombone player in a 23-piece salsa band. "But had I come up with the gold, no one would have thought I'm crazy."
Still, word got out. A neighbor called the Fire Department on Tuesday afternoon, complaining that Mora's gold-mining pit was deep enough to swallow a child.
When firefighters pulled up at the home, workers were dumping paint cans brimming with dirt scraped from the bottom of the hole with a shovel and a pick ax. To pull the dirt out, Mora had devised a rope-and-pulley contraption with a plastic wheel and a metal rod.
The worker at the bottom of the crater had shimmied down, a rope tethered to a belt, and was sucking on a garden hose for oxygen, neighbors told the emergency responders.
"It was like the next shovel would reveal gold and [Mora] got carried away," said Deputy Fire Chief Troy Ament.
Mora had failed to apply for the required permits for that type of project.
Residents paraded past Mora's home Wednesday morning, after the mine was closed and fenced off, gaping at the dirt mound flanked by rattan chairs, cushions and a patio umbrella.
"If he finds gold, I'm trying too," deadpanned Preciado, the neighbor.
Mora, a squat man with dark hair graying at the temples, handed out business cards promoting his 23-piece salsa and Latin jazz orchestra.
A private soil engineer, Mohan B. Upasani of Global Geo-Engineering Inc. in Tustin, said he was surprised the tunnel didn't collapse. City officials had instructed Mora to hire an engineer to plug the pit.
While he promised to do so, Mora hinted that he'd keep hunting for the treasure waiting beneath his sneakers.
How? "That's between me and the gold," he said.
Dr. Strangelove
Frontyard Treasure? Just the Shaft
Montclair man thought he'd find gold under his lawn, but the city shut down his mining operation.
By Ashley Powers, Times Staff Writer
June 15, 2006
Enrique Mora was convinced that his neatly trimmed lawn in a Montclair cul-de-sac topped a modern-day mother lode — so two weeks ago, he started digging for gold.
And digging and digging and digging, until the 60-foot shaft so alarmed neighbors that someone alerted the city Fire Department, which shut him down this week.
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"Just when you think you've seen everything, the Montclair gold rush?" said Scott Sherwood, the Fire Department code enforcement officer who put an end to Mora's quest.
Mora's flirtation with residential treasure began about a month ago, when he celebrated his retirement from a company that retrains injured workers by dropping nearly $600 on a metal detector.
As a test, Mora, 63, swept his frontyard. The detector went bonkers, he said. This was a conundrum: ignore the beeping or tear up the lawn?
Any newfound riches would allow him to realize his dream: to direct his own motion picture, likely about the Vietnam War, about which he wrote a book called "The Redcatcher Express."
It was an easy call.
So Mora hired three workers to carve a 3- to 4-foot-wide hole next to a stone pathway. This being Montclair, a 35,000-person town in western San Bernardino County, neighbors figured he was planting a palm tree — until a dirt mound grew as tall as Mora's one-story home.
"The workers told my husband that they were looking for water to fill a swimming pool, and my husband said, 'What do you think, I'm dumb?' " said Josefina Preciado, 50, who lives across from Mora on Granada Street.
Despite the stares and questions from neighbors, Mora kept his mission hush-hush, even after he discovered what he thought was gold dust.
"They were going to think I'm crazy," said Mora, a trombone player in a 23-piece salsa band. "But had I come up with the gold, no one would have thought I'm crazy."
Still, word got out. A neighbor called the Fire Department on Tuesday afternoon, complaining that Mora's gold-mining pit was deep enough to swallow a child.
When firefighters pulled up at the home, workers were dumping paint cans brimming with dirt scraped from the bottom of the hole with a shovel and a pick ax. To pull the dirt out, Mora had devised a rope-and-pulley contraption with a plastic wheel and a metal rod.
The worker at the bottom of the crater had shimmied down, a rope tethered to a belt, and was sucking on a garden hose for oxygen, neighbors told the emergency responders.
"It was like the next shovel would reveal gold and [Mora] got carried away," said Deputy Fire Chief Troy Ament.
Mora had failed to apply for the required permits for that type of project.
Residents paraded past Mora's home Wednesday morning, after the mine was closed and fenced off, gaping at the dirt mound flanked by rattan chairs, cushions and a patio umbrella.
"If he finds gold, I'm trying too," deadpanned Preciado, the neighbor.
Mora, a squat man with dark hair graying at the temples, handed out business cards promoting his 23-piece salsa and Latin jazz orchestra.
A private soil engineer, Mohan B. Upasani of Global Geo-Engineering Inc. in Tustin, said he was surprised the tunnel didn't collapse. City officials had instructed Mora to hire an engineer to plug the pit.
While he promised to do so, Mora hinted that he'd keep hunting for the treasure waiting beneath his sneakers.
How? "That's between me and the gold," he said.
12/11/2006
I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land. (Jon Stewart)
we were so poor we used to get stoned and watch the radio
Mr. Fudge, a 4-year-old Chihuahua who belongs to Wendy Kaplan, a fit model and personal style consultant in New York, owns a yellow Old Navy raincoat, a denim fleece vest and, for blustery days, an orange simulated snakeskin coat with a pocket "in case he needs a biscuit," Ms. Kaplan explained.
What's the difference between a unicorn and a little five year old girl?
I don't have a unicorn tied up in my basement
Did you read the part in here about science not proving anything? And... it's really interesting when you look at it that way.
No microphone problems in Jesus' name. We speak that. No microphone problems.
Mr. Fudge, a 4-year-old Chihuahua who belongs to Wendy Kaplan, a fit model and personal style consultant in New York, owns a yellow Old Navy raincoat, a denim fleece vest and, for blustery days, an orange simulated snakeskin coat with a pocket "in case he needs a biscuit," Ms. Kaplan explained.
What's the difference between a unicorn and a little five year old girl?
I don't have a unicorn tied up in my basement
Did you read the part in here about science not proving anything? And... it's really interesting when you look at it that way.
No microphone problems in Jesus' name. We speak that. No microphone problems.
