The Alleged Sasquatch

Frame 352, and All That -Tetrapod Zoology

Zoologist Darren Naish tackles the P-G Bigfoot film, particularly one frame of it, in his normal, very meticulous manner. A good analysis. (via: The Anomalist)

Frame 352, and all that

For some time now I’ve been toying with the idea of writing a blog post about sasquatch, North America’s legendary cryptic ape. And, generally, I’ve decided that doing so would be a really bad idea: I am chicken, and as someone trying to gain a reputation within the academic world, I think that even expressing an interest in issues like this is a bad idea. That’s ridiculously unfair of course, stemming only from ill-informed knee-jerk negativity to this subject, and given that scientific inquiry of any phenomenon is a worthwhile pursuit, I like to think that more zoologists should actually get informed about mystery animals (for a previous post making the same argument go here). I note that hardly any hard-line sceptics of things such as sasquatch display familiarity with the literature on the subject [adjacent image shows frame 310 of the Patterson film: see below].

In the interests of hypothesis testing, I finally decided: what the hell. My hypothesis is: will writing about sasquatch negatively affect my career prospects? Well, let’s test the hypothesis. Let me state from the start that I do not “believe” in sasquatch, nor am I planning to promote either an anti-sasquatch, or a pro-sasquatch, point of view. What I have learnt from research on this area is that – contrary to the assertions of some – the evidence for sasquatch is, at the very least, scientifically interesting and worthy of investigation.

While purported evidence for the supposed reality of sasquatch continues to attract strong criticism, more interesting in my view is that a number of academically qualified primatologists have recently gone on record in stating that the evidence for sasquatch is scientifically compelling. These people do not only include well-known sasquatch proponents, such as the late Grover Krantz (1931-2002) of Washington State University, or Jeff Meldrum of Idaho State University. Daris Swindler (professor emeritus of physical anthropology at the University of Washington, author of Atlas of Primate Anatomy) stated, after examining the Skookum body cast (a large impression, made in mud, from Washington state, apparently created by a reclining man-like primate), that the heel impression visible on the cast is definitely that of a giant unknown primate. J. H. Chilcutt, an expert on human and non-human primate fingerprints (who initially examined casts of sasquatch tracks because he felt confident that he could debunk them), has expressed his absolute confidence in the validity of dermal ridges on footprints as demonstrative of the reality of sasquatch. On the Whitewolf Entertainment TV documentary ‘Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science’ (2003) he stated “I stake my career on it”.

-cont.

Op-Ed Sociopaths

The Sociopaths That Have Taken Over the Op-Ed Pages

Is it me, or in the last year have we seen a shocking rise in the number of major pundits who have acknowledged (perhaps inadvertently) their own sociopathic tendencies? I ask this after reading this from the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen:

“I originally had no moral qualms about the war…I was encouraged in my belief by the offensive opposition to the war — silly arguments about oil or empire or, at bottom, the ineradicable and perpetual rottenness of America…In a post-Sept. 11 world, I thought the prudent use of violence could be therapeutic.”

EPA Scientists Revolt

For Immediate Release: November 29, 2006
Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337

EPA SCIENTISTS FILE MASS PETITION FOR ACTION ON GLOBAL WARMING — Majority of Entire EPA Workforce Calls for Regulation of Greenhouse Gases


Washington, DC — In an unprecedented action, representatives for more than 10,000 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientists are calling on Congress to take immediate action against global warming, according to a petition released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The petition also calls for an end to censorship of agency scientists and other specialists on topics of climate change and the effects of air pollution.

The petition stresses that time is running out to prevent cataclysmic environmental changes induced by human-caused pollution and urges Congress to undertake prompt actions:

“If we wait, we will be committing the next generation of Americans to approximately double the current global warming concentrations, with the associated adverse impacts on human health and the environment.”

The filing of this petition coincides with today’s oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on a case (Massachusetts v. EPA, Case No. 05-1120) brought by states seeking to force the Bush administration to regulate greenhouse gases that fuel global warming under the Clean Air Act.

The petition signatories represent more than half of the total agency workforce. Addressed to the members of the Senate and House committees overseeing EPA, the petition argues that:

* The Bush administration strategy of “using primarily voluntary and incentive-based programs” to reduce greenhouse gases is not working nor “has [this approach] been effectively carried out;”
* EPA has abdicated its enforcement responsibilities by “failing to investigate coal-electric plants for technical options to control carbon;” and
* “EPA’s scientists and engineers [must be able] to speak frankly and directly with Congress and the public regarding climate change, without fear of reprisal.”

“Professionals working for the Environmental Protection Agency are protesting being ordered to sit on the sidelines while we face the greatest environmental challenge of our generation,” stated PEER Executive Director Jeff Ruch, noting that the petition began among agency staff. “Under a new Congress, perhaps the scientists at EPA can begin to directly communicate with their true employers – the American public.”

The Newton Stone

The Newton Stone, in Aberdeenshire, with the strange spiral and cup shapes.
Picture: Stan Hall

Out of this world solution to a Scottish standing stone

DIANE MACLEAN

THE NEWTON stone is a small, rather unassuming pillar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. On one side is faded, ancient writing, on the other a curling snake and cylindrical patterning. Many would say that it is a typical example of a Scottish standing stone.

Yet one man claims that this is no ordinary stone, that instead it holds the secret of our missing pre-history. That it shows the birth of Jupiter from Saturn and more explosively, that it proves that someone was around to witness this planetary catastrophe and that this someone may not be human.

Stan Hall doesn't seem like a man who has come to the conclusion that life as we know it may be one big allusion. Sitting in his flat in a seaside town outside Edinburgh he tells of his life as a construction engineer before an adventure in Ecuador changed his outlook on life forever.

Hall was drawn to South America by tales of a fantastic mythical gold and crystal library, said to be hidden in subterranean tunnels somewhere in Ecuador. In 1976 he organised an expedition to try and locate the position of these extraordinary caves – even managing to entice the astronaut Neil Armstrong into coming along for the ride.

Liar. 'Liar?'

The Nation

Liar. 'Liar?'

by Eric Alterman

Once upon a time, only people with bad manners took note of the fact that George W. Bush was an inveterate liar. One such person, pundit Michael Kinsley, observed back in April 2002, "Bush II administration lies are often so laughably obvious that you wonder why they bother." Back then it was undeniable but all but unsayable in the mainstream media. Even when addressing himself to the very topic of Bush's myriad lies six months later, Washington Post scribe Dana Milbank combed his thesaurus and came up with "embroidering," "taken some flights of fancy," "taken some liberties," "omitted qualifiers," etc. But even this artful linguistic circumlocution so infuriated Karl Rove & Co. that the White House pressured the Post to reassign the reporter. When asked to comment on an incontrovertible, unarguable, prime-time presidential lie--Bush publicly claimed that Iraq would not allow inspections, when in fact the UN inspectors had to be kicked out for his war to begin--on CNN's Reliable Sources program, Milbank said, "I think what people basically decided was this is just the President being the President." What, after all, is the big deal about lying about why you started a war?

Bush had been lying right from the start, of course, but just for fun, one assumes, he recently decided to double-down on his bet. On the day after the election, Bush explained to the media that the discrepancy between his insistence just a few days earlier to reporters that Donald Rumsfeld would stay in his job come hell or high water while, in fact, he had already started the process to replace Rumsfeld with Robert Gates could be explained by... well, heck, Bush just felt like lying about it. His exact words: "I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign. And so the only way to answer that question, and to get you on to another question, was to give you that answer."

-more

The Antikythera Mechanism

An Ancient Computer Surprises Scientists

By JOHN NOBLE WILFORD -NYT

A computer in antiquity would seem to be an anachronism, like Athena ordering takeout on her cellphone.

Enlarge This Image

School of Physics and Astronomy, Cardiff University

Fragments of the Antikythera Mechanism, left, have now been examined with the latest in high-resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray tomography.

related web link

Decoding the Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculator Known as the Antikythera Mechanism (Nature)

But a century ago, pieces of a strange mechanism with bronze gears and dials were recovered from an ancient shipwreck off the coast of Greece. Historians of science concluded that this was an instrument that calculated and illustrated astronomical information, particularly phases of the Moon and planetary motions, in the second century B.C.

The Antikythera Mechanism, sometimes called the world’s first computer, has now been examined with the latest in high-resolution imaging systems and three-dimensional X-ray tomography. A team of British, Greek and American researchers was able to decipher many inscriptions and reconstruct the gear functions, revealing, they said, “an unexpected degree of technical sophistication for the period.”

The researchers, led by Tony Freeth and Mike G. Edmunds, both of the University of Cardiff, Wales, are reporting the results of their study in Thursday’s issue of the journal Nature.

They said their findings showed that the inscriptions related to lunar-solar motions and the gears were a mechanical representation of the irregularities of the Moon’s orbital course across the sky, as theorized by the astronomer Hipparchos. They established the date of the mechanism at 150-100 B.C.

The Roman ship carrying the artifacts sank off the island of Antikythera around 65 B.C. Some evidence suggests that the ship had sailed from Rhodes. The researchers speculated that Hipparchos, who lived on Rhodes, might have had a hand in designing the device.

DU Situation Worsens

Depleted Uranium Situation Worsens

By Doug Rokke

The delivery of at least one hundred GBU-28 "bunker buster" bombs containing depleted-uranium warheads by the United States to Israel for use against targets in Lebanon will result in additional radioactive and chemical toxic contamination, with consequent adverse health and environmental effects throughout the Middle East. Israeli tank gunners are also using depleted-uranium tank rounds, as photographs verify.

Today, US, British, and now Israeli military personnel are using illegal uranium munitions—America and the United Kingdom's own "dirty bombs"—while US Army, US Department of Energy, US Department of Defense (DOD), and UK Ministry of Defence officials deny that there are any adverse health or environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture, testing, or use of uranium munitions, so that they may avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material—depleted uranium (DU).

The use of uranium weapons is absolutely unacceptable and a crime against humanity. Consequently, the citizens of the world and all governments must force the cessation of uranium weapons use. I must demand that Israel now provide medical care to all DU casualties in Lebanon and clean up all DU contamination.

American and British officials have arrogantly refused to comply with their own regulations, orders, and directives that require DOD officials to provide prompt and effective medical care to all exposed individuals ("Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties," DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93; "Medical Management of Army Personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU)," US Army Medical Command, 4/29/04; Section 2-5 of US Army Regulation 700-48).

They also refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive contamination, as required by Army Regulation 700-48, "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities" (Department of the Army, September 2002) and US Army Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, "Guidelines for Safe Response to Handling, Storage, and Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions or Armor which Contain Depleted Uranium" (Department of the Army, July 1996). Specifically, Section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation 700-48 (dated September 16, 2002) requires that: ...

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thanks to jersey cynic@blondesense

Personal EMF Shielding

The EMF Safety Superstore

Personal EMF Shielding Devices

Best selection, great prices on Grounded and Shielded Clothing, Garments, Faraday Cage, and Vehicle Grounding

SILVER LINING GARMENTS

Gain Control of Your Inner Environment

Very sheer, comfortable undergarments you can wear over your regular underwear to shield yourself from powerline and computer electric fields, and microwave, radar, and TV radiation. This silver-plated, stretchable, washable nylon mesh is electrically conductive. It provides EMF radiation protection by reflection. Plus you won't get those static shocks as you used to in dry weather and your clothes won't cling to you! Fabric provides up to 35dB of shielding at 100 MHz. Made in USA. Surround what you want to protect!

SHIELDED CAP

Smart and Subtle

Protect your brain from RF (radio-frequency) pollution with this handsome baseball style hat. Specially designed to shield the head from frequencies from below AM through microwave, including cellular phone frequencies. Lined with sophisticated NaturaShield fabric woven from cotton with an ultrathin Silver/Copper core thread for excellent radiation protection. This gives this unique fabric a truly comfortable, natural feel and the durability and washability of cotton, but with exceptional reflective characteristics.

Research links RF radiation with behavioral and cellular disturbances. Many people can actually sense the differences in the levels of "mind noise" from RF radiation. Provide your brain a quiet place without interference to your mental processes from RF radiation. Washable, Tan color. Adjustment strap means one size fits all. Union made in USA.

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via: eclectics anonymous

Melancholia

I am going to talk about melancholia. Do you know what melancholia is? Melancholia is a feeling of great sadness. You do not know why you are sad, and worst of all, you may want to commit suicide.

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via: 02 melancholia

Record Calgary Cold

Cold set to snap city record

UPDATED: 2006-11-28 03:57:59 MST
Environment Canada says such low temperatures unusual for this time of year

By TARINA WHITE, CALGARY SUN

Dave Koiter bundles up to take on the task of wiping off his windshield yesterday as more snow fell on Calgary. Strong winds combined with blowing snow and frigid temperatures to create treacherous driving conditions throughout the city. (Stuart Dryden/Calgary sun

The arctic deep freeze trapping Calgary is on track to break a 110-year-old weather record today, but the bitter cold is expected to ease in the coming days.

With a forecast low of -31C today, Calgary could break the -27C record set on this day in 1896.

But factoring in the wind chill, it will feel even colder to people who have to brave the elements, said Environment Canada meteorologist Ross Macdonald.

"I wouldn't break out the shorts and go sunbathing right now," he joked.

"Bundle up."

The recent frigid weather is a far cry from the city's average late-November temperatures.

Macdonald said the normal daytime high at this time of year is 0C, with a low of -11C.

"The last time it was really this cold in November was about 10 years ago," he said.

"We've hit rock bottom."

Time for Rice to Resign

It Is Time For Secretary of State Condi Rice to Resign
... in disgrace -- for lying and using the CIA, The British, and the FBI as her scapegoat

By Jeff Koopersmith

Nov. 27, 2006 -- GENEVA (apj.us) -- As this piece was about to go to press, the wire services reported that Philip Zelikow, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's most senior adviser on Iraq, is tendering his resignation.

It's a pity that his boss is not doing the same. It's overdue -- long overdue.

One wonders how former National Security Advisor and now Secretary of State Rice manages to keep her lies straight.

In fact, she does not -- and now it truly is time that she resigns, with all due shame and humiliation -- and perhaps hightail back Stanford where she might find use for her talent as a piano player, or back to Chevron Oil which could use her talented deceit now more than ever.

Let me make this clear enough for any Neoconservative moron to understand: Condoleezza Rice -- along with Richard Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, Donald Rumsfeld, and former Attorney General John Ashcroft -- is guilty of the crime called "misprision of a felony," which is allowing a felony to be committed with knowledge.

A Day in the Life

-Version 2-

Planetary Wipeout

Gaia scientist Lovelock predicts planetary wipeout

By Jeremy Lovell

LONDON (Reuters) - The earth has a fever that could boost temperatures by 8 degrees Celsius making large parts of the surface uninhabitable and threatening billions of peoples' lives, a controversial climate scientist said on Tuesday.

James Lovelock, who angered climate scientists with his Gaia theory of a living planet and then alienated environmentalists by backing nuclear power, said a traumatized earth might only be able to support less than a tenth of it's 6 billion people.

"We are not all doomed. An awful lot of people will die, but I don't see the species dying out," he told a news conference. "A hot earth couldn't support much over 500 million."

"Almost all of the systems that have been looked at are in positive feedback ... and soon those effects will be larger than any of the effects of carbon dioxide emissions from industry and so on around the world," he added.

Scientists say that global warming due to carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels for power and transport could boost average temperatures by up to 6C by the end of the century causing floods, famines and violent storms.

Creating a New America

"Educating Ourselves During this Dangerous Time"

We must recognize the absolute necessity of changing ourselves and our country in a permanent manner: We need to educate ourselves so we understand: How we allowed ourselves to be lulled asleep by a tyrannous gang of crooks How we can prevent it happening again We must create a new American commonwealth of, by, and for all the people.

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America is such a rich and dynamic country that it's easy for its inhabitants to merely enjoy its fruits and feel no obligation to understand and preserve its precious heritage.

But the Bush junta and its Republican and Democratic collaborators became so outrageous in their corruption and oppression, that they momentarily aroused many Americans from their slumber of ignorance. Now we must make sure that the cabal doesn't lull Americans back into somnolence. Our first task is to gain an understanding of what kind of people we've allowed ourselves to become and how we've permitted our nation's principles to be degraded and destroyed.

The world’s power structures have always ‘divided to conquer’ and have always ‘kept divided to keep conquered.’ As a consequence the power structure has so divided humanity--not only into special function categories but into religious and language and color categories--that individual humans are now helplessly inarticulate in the face of the present crisis. They consider their political representation to be completely corrupted, therefore, they feel almost utterly helpless.”

R. Buckminster Fuller, Critical Path

Chemo Shrinks The Brain

	Temporary Brain Shrinkage May Explain 'Chemobrain'
	By Neil Osterweil, Senior Associate Editor, MedPage Today Reviewed by Zalman S. Agus, MD; Emeritus Professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. November 27, 2006

CHIBA, Japan, Nov. 27 -- The thought-fogging phenomenon known as "chemobrain" appears to be related to a reversible shrinking of brain structures induced by chemotherapy, researchers here have found.

Action Points

• Explain to patients that cancer chemotherapy appears to have a temporary and reversible effect on thought processes and memory, and that the cancer treatment benefits far outweigh possible short-term effects on cognitive function.

MRI scans of breast cancer survivors within a year of completing adjuvant chemotherapy showed significantly smaller regional volumes of gray and white matter in areas involved in cognitive function compared with other survivors or healthy controls, they reported in an online release from the Jan. 1 issue of Cancer.

By three years after treatment, however, those differences had vanished, said Masatoshi Inagaki, M.D., Ph.D., of the National Cancer Center Hospital East, and colleagues.

"Results lead to the idea that adjuvant chemotherapy could have a temporary effect on brain structure," the authors wrote. "These findings can provide new insights for future research to improve the quality of life of cancer patients who receive adjuvant chemotherapy."

Patients undergoing chemotherapy often complain of cognitive and memory problems, and clinical studies have confirmed cognitive declines. Evidence from animal studies has also shown that systemic chemotherapy can have neurotoxic effects.

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via: rense.com

Acetone Increases Mileage

Acetone In Fuel Said to Increase Mileage

Readily-available chemical added to gas tank in small proportion improves the fuel's ability to vaporize completely by reducing the surface tension that inhibits vaporization of some fuel droplets.

by Louis LaPointe
Adapted by Sterling D. Allan and Mary-Sue Haliburton
with LaPointe's permission for Pure Energy Systems News

See also, Acetone Data • FAQ

Acetone (CH₃COCH₃) is a product that can be purchased inexpensively in most locations around the world, such as in the common hardware, auto parts, or drug store. Added to the fuel tank in tiny amounts, acetone aids in the vaporization of the gasoline or diesel, increasing fuel efficiency, engine longevity, and performance -- as well as reducing hydrocarbon emissions.

How it Works

Acetone A colorless, volatile liquid with a sweet odor. It is considered the least toxic solvent in industry. It can occur naturally. It is used in the production of lubricating oils, chloroform, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, paints, varnishes and lacquers. If present in water, it is more likely to volatilize or biodegrade before bioaccumulating or adsorbing to sediments. Acetone will also readily volatilize and biodegrade in soil. It is also a common laboratory contaminant, so its presence in a sample does not always indicate its presence in the environment. Synonyms - Dimethylketone and 2-propanone. -- Environmental Terms Glossary (U.S. Military)

Additive: changes the specifications of the base it is added to

Complete vaporization of fuel is far from perfect in today's cars and trucks. A certain amount of residual fuel in most engines remains liquid in the hot chamber. In order to be fully combusted, the fuel must be fully vaporized.

Surface tension presents an obstacle to vaporization. For instance the energy barrier from surface tension can sometimes force water to reach 300 degrees Fahrenheit before it vaporizes. Similarly with gasoline.

Acetone drastically reduces the surface tension. Most fuel molecules are sluggish with respect to their natural frequency. Acetone has an inherent molecular vibration that "stirs up" the fuel molecules, to break the surface tension. This results in a more complete vaporization with other factors remaining the same. More complete vaporization means less wasted fuel, hence the increased gas mileage from the increased thermal efficiency.

That excess fuel was formerly wasted past the rings or sent out the tailpipe but when mixed with acetone it gets burned, though the engine still thinks it is running straight gas.

Risky Living

Live At Your Own Risk

By David Moberg

In This Article

All Together Now: Common Sense for a Fair Economy

(BK Currents)
By Jared Bernstein
Berrett-Koehler Publishers · $12.00

The American Dream vs. The Gospel of Wealth: The Fight for a Productive Middle-Class Economy (The Future of American Democracy Series)
By Norton Garfinkle
Yale University Press · $22.00

For three decades, the gap between the rich and everyone else has grown in the United States. At the same time, working people have faced greater economic uncertainty, their incomes have fluctuated more dramatically, and both employers and governments have cut back on measures such as pensions and health insurance that helped mitigate the uncertainties of life. Yale political scientist Jacob Hacker calls this the great risk shift—transferring the burden of risks in life from collective institutions to individuals.

Hacker observes that “Social Security, Medicare, private health insurance, traditional guaranteed pensions—all sent the same reassuring message: someone is watching out for you, all of us are watching out for you, when things go bad. Today, the message is starkly different: You are on your own.”

The greatest victims of this shift are the poor, and the biggest beneficiaries are the rich. However, in The Great Risk Shift, Hacker uses statistics and illuminating anecdotes to show how the shift also threatens the “middle class.”

Many of the same changes in the economy increase both inequality and risk. However increased individual exposure to economic uncertainty raises slightly different political questions. It endangers and often wreaks real hardship on many who thought their lives were secure. These middle class workers found their health insurance was inadequate, their jobs were off-shored, or, like many Enron employees, their 401(k) retirement accounts collapsed with their employer.

As a result, Americans are increasingly anxious. Everyone except the rich are at risk, and no individual solution, including education, can adequately compensate for the insecurities that loom over Americans’ lives...

Ted K's Cabin

Exclusive:

Evidence Obtained In Unabomber Case

Anna Werner
Reporting

(CBS 5) A decade after the feds tracked him down, CBS 5 Investigates has uncovered exclusive new information about the Unabomber.

Anna Werner reports on the tricks Ted Kaczynski used, the code he developed, and how he got away with his violent acts for so long.

Web Extra:
CBS 5 has obtained dozens of photographs documenting the aftermath of more than 15 years of deadly bombings, including remnants of the packages, much of which is evidence that has never been released until now.

See them in the following slideshows:

Unabom Case: Bombs & Bombings
Unabom Case: Exhibits & Evidence
Unabom Case: Go Inside The Unabomber's Cabin

Borat the Homewrecker

PAM SPLITS OVER KID BLOWUP

November 28, 2006 -- JUST three months after they wed in St. Tropez, Pamela Anderson has filed for divorce from Kid Rock (real name Bob Richie) because of his "male insecurity and major anger issues," a close pal said.

The final straw was a bellicose blowup Rock threw at Universal Studio chief Ron Meyer's Beverly Hills house two weeks ago.

"Ron Meyer held a screening of 'Borat' at his house for a bunch of people, including Pam and Bob," says an Anderson pal. "It was the first time Bob had seen the movie, and, well, he didn't like it."

The hugely popular film shows Sasha Baron Cohen - in character as Borat Sagdiyev - falling in love with Anderson after seeing her in a "Baywatch" rerun, then driving across America in order to propose marriage to her.

Her friend tells Page Six, "Bob started screaming at Pam, saying she had humiliated herself and telling her, 'You're nothing but a whore! You're a slut! How could you do that movie?' - in front of everyone. It was very embarrassing.

"Pam thought he could have a sense of humor about the movie. She was in on the gag from the very beginning and loved doing the movie. And on the eve of what was supposed to be a very positive thing, he made it an awful night.

"Ever since that night, it has been icicles between them," the friend relates. "Bob is just a very unhappy and angry man. Pam is very disenchanted and sad. You know, there are reasons why she never married him before. Those reasons disappeared while they were together on a boat in St. Tropez, but she knows now that they never went away. The reality is he is an insecure, angry man."

Ego Monsters

Like I Care

By Michael Kinsley
Tuesday, November 28, 2006; A19

The first person I knew who had a Web site of his own was a fellow Washington journalist. This was when many journalists were still just getting into e-mail, but the URL for this Web site quickly circulated around town and around the world. Why? Well, we were all impressed by the technological savvy. But we were absolutely astounded by the solipsism. What on earth had gotten into Joe (not his real name)? This was a modest, soft-spoken and self-effacing fellow, yet his Web site portrayed him as an egotistical monster.

Or so it seemed at the time. All of the elements that struck us as obnoxious maybe eight years ago no longer seem that way. In fact, they are now virtually required for any writer's Web site. The Web address, of course, was his name: JoeJournalist.com. It's hard to recapture why even that seemed pretentious. But it did. Then there was his deadpan list of books he'd written and awards he'd won. And quotes from other journalists about how wonderful he is. It all seemed totally out of character and terribly immodest. Poor Joe! Had the World Wide Web driven him crazy?

If so, we are all crazy now. There is something about the Web that brings out the ego monster in everybody. It's not just the well-established tendency to be nasty. When you write for the Web, you open yourself up to breathtakingly vicious vitriol. People wish things on your mother, simply for bearing you, that you wouldn't wish on Hitler.

But even in their quieter modes, denizens of the Web seem to lug around huge egos and deeply questionable assumptions about how interesting they and their lives might be to others.

Bizarre Deep-sea Creatures

Bizarre deep-sea creatures imaged off New Zealand

• 12:00 27 November 2006
• NewScientist.com news service
• Catherine Brahic

The weird and wonderful creatures living by methane vents in the southwest Pacific have been photographed for the first time.

The deep-sea communities live around methane seeps off New Zealand’s eastern coast, up to 1 kilometre beneath the sea surface. The team of 21 researchers from the US and New Zealand, who spent two weeks exploring the area, have just returned to shore. See video footage recorded by the researchers here, here and here.

“It's the first time cold seeps have been viewed and sampled in the southwest Pacific, and will greatly contribute to our knowledge of these intriguing ecosystems,” says Amy Baco-Taylor from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in the US.

Cold seeps are areas of the seabed where methane or hydrogen sulphide gas escape from stores deep underneath. Like hydrothermal vents, the gases support unique life forms that can convert the energy-rich chemicals into living matter in the absence of any sunlight.

Sheer extent

Animals living around methane seeps off Chile and Japan have been observed before, but not near New Zealand. “The seeps here are remarkable in the sheer extent of their chemosynthetic communities,” says Baco-Taylor, whose team visited eight such sites between 750 and 1050 metres beneath the surface.

The Falsies

Thanks for the False Memories

Help choose the winners of this year's Falsies Awards

Welcome to the third annual "Falsies Awards" contest, sponsored by the Center for Media and Democracy to recognize the people and players responsible for polluting our information environment. This year, we are asking you to help identify the worst spinners and propagandists of 2006. Please read through the list of nominees below and rank them. You can also nominate additional candidates in our readers' award section.

Please note: you can vote for multiple winners in each category and the CMD judges will take the recommendations into account when deciding the falsest of the false.

Thanks for your input, and stay tuned to www.prwatch.org in December for the announcement of this year's "Falsies Awards" finalists!

This Year's Nominees:

Dolphins' Distress

Dolphins in distress

Whatever is deforming and killing the mammals may also imperil humans.

Kevin Spear | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted November 26, 2006

PORT ST. JOE -- The two young dolphins were cruising in nearly still waters 100 yards from a spit of Panhandle beach when they became targets.

A boat captain banked his vessel and sped toward the animals. Within seconds, he cast off a quarter-mile of netting, trapping the animals inside a corral of nylon web.

The dolphins searched for escape, swimming faster and surfacing every few seconds to exhale a loud "chuff" through their blowholes.

As the net reeled them in closer, their future was set.

They would become the newest investigators in some of the world's most important dolphin research. Scientists are relying on these two animals, as well as hundreds of others, to help answer why Florida's bottlenose dolphins are dying at a startlingly high rate and plagued by disfiguring illnesses. Whether the two captives live or die will provide vital clues.

Prepare for Eastern Dominance

via: BlondeSense

The East Will Dominate the West

How do you like these headlines?

West must prepare for Chinese, Indian dominance
(isn't that one of the end times bible prophesies too?)

Former World Bank chief James Wolfensohn has warned that western nations must prepare for a "future dominated by China and India, whose rapid economic rise will soon fundamentally alter the balance of power."

So this is what happened while we were all sleeping and the corporate powered government was at work?

Wolfensohn said that somewhere between 2030 and 2040, China would become the largest economy in the world, leaving the United States behind.

By 2050, China's current two trillion US dollar GDP was set to balloon to 48.6 trillion, while that of India, whose economy weighs in at under a trillion dollars, would hit 27 trillion, he said, citing projections by investment bank Goldman Sachs.

In comparison, the US's 13 trillion dollar income would expand to only 37 trillion -- 10 trillion behind China.

"You will have in the growth of these countries a 22 times growth between now and the year 2050 and the current rich countries will grow maybe 2.5 times."

In light of these forecasts, it was clear that Western nations and Australia were not investing enough in educating the next generation to be able to take advantage of the coming realignment, he said.

"The fact that not enough of our young people are preparing themselves with knowledge, experience, residence and language to deal certainly with China, although India has the benefit of an English language, it does seem to me that it presents a formidable challenge."

Wolfensohn pointed to both China's and India's recent substantial investments in Africa as an example of how the two emerging giants were exercising their increasing clout on the global stage.

"Within the last two weeks the world has been put on notice that Africa is no longer the basket case that everybody had historically thought it was but is now front and centre in terms of development by India and China."

I certainly hope that China and India do a better job with Africa than the western nations did and teach them about STD transmission in a responsible way.

The president gave a speech in February of this year, "Some people have said the 21st century will be the Asian century. I believe the 21st century will be freedom's century. And together, free Asians and free Americans will seize the opportunities this new century offers and lay the foundation of peace and prosperity for generations to come."

He left out the part where free Asia would leave free America in the dust, not that it wasn't obvious it would happen.

Outrunning Climate Change

On the Move to Outrun Climate Change

Self-Preservation Forcing Wild Species, Businesses, Planning Officials to Act

By Blaine Harden and Juliet Eilperin

Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, November 26, 2006; Page A03

SEATTLE -- As the Bush administration debates much of the world about what to do about global warming, butterflies and ski-lift operators, polar bears and hydroelectric planners are on the move.

In their separate ways, wild creatures, business executives and regional planners are responding to climate changes that are rapidly recalibrating their chances for survival, for profit and for effective delivery of public services.

Special Report Read complete Post coverage on the science and politics surrounding the threat of human-induced climate change. » FULL COVERAGE

Butterflies are voting with their wings, abandoning southern Europe and flying north to the more amenable climes of Finland. Ski-lift operators in the West are lobbying for leases on federal land higher up in the Rockies, trying to outclimb snowlines that creep steadily upward.

Polar bears along Hudson Bay are losing weight and declining in number as the ice shelf melts and their feeding season shrinks. Power planners in the Pacific Northwest, which gets three-quarters of its electricity from hydroelectric dams, are meeting in brainstorming sessions and making contingency plans for early snow melts, increased wintertime rainfall, lower summertime river flows and electricity shortfalls during hotter, drier summers.

With the issue of a warming planet shifting rapidly from scientific projection to on-the-ground reality, animals and plants are being compelled, along with businesses and bureaucracies, to take action aimed at self-preservation. They are doing so even as the Bush administration eschews regulations, laws or international treaties that would require limits on carbon dioxide emissions, which scientists say are the main cause of global warming.

Chain of Command

Jesus & Nonviolence

JESUS & ALINSKY

Walter Wink

You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (attributed to Jesus in Matthew 5:38–41, Revised Standard Version)

Many who have committed their lives to working for change and justice in the world simply dismiss Jesus’ teachings about nonvio­lence as impractical idealism. And with good reason. “Turn the other cheek” suggests the passive, Christian doormat quality that has made so many Christians cowardly and complicit in the face of injustice. “Resist not evil” seems to break the back of all opposition to evil and counsel submission. “Going the second mile” has become a platitude meaning nothing more than “extend yourself.” Rather than fostering structural change, such attitudes encourage collaboration with the oppressor.

Jesus never behaved in such ways. Whatever the source of the mis­understanding, it is neither Jesus nor his teaching, which, when given a fair hearing in its original social context, is arguably one of the most revolutionary political statements ever uttered.

When the court translators working in the hire of King James chose to translate antistenai as “Resist not evil,” they were doing something more than rendering Greek into English. They were translating nonvio­lent resistance into docility. The Greek word means more than simply to "stand against" or "resist." It means to resist violently, to revolt or rebel, to engage in an insurrection. Jesus did not tell his oppressed hearers not to resist evil. His entire ministry is at odds with such a preposterous idea. He is, rather, warning against responding to evil in kind by letting the oppressor set the terms of our opposition.

A proper translation of Jesus’ teaching would then be, “Do not retaliate against violence with violence.” Jesus was no less committed to opposing evil than the anti-Roman resistance fighters like Barabbas. The only difference was over the means to be used...

cont. @ The Impossible

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Today we can draw on the cumulative historical experience of nonviolent social struggle. But the spirit, the thrust, the surge for crea­tive transformation that is the ultimate principle of the universe—this is the same one we see incarnated in Jesus. Freed from literalistic legal­ism, his teaching reads like a practical manual for empowering the powerless to seize the initiative even in situations impervious to change.

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Child Prodigy

Jay Greenberg Child Prodigy

This is amazing. Jay Greenberg (12 years old) has already composed five symphonies. "Talented composers might write five or six symphonies in a lifetime. Jay has written five at the age of 12."

-"Jay has been told his hearing is many times more sensitive than an average person’s. The sounds of the city need to be shut out manually. But Jay can’t turn off the music in his head. In fact, he told us he often hears more than one new composition at a time.

"Multiple channels is what it’s been termed," says Jay. 'That my brain is able to control two or three different musics at the same time –- along with the channel of everyday life.' "

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via: last minute blog

Essentials of Buddhism

Essentials of Buddhism

Four Noble Truths

1. Suffering exists
2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires
3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path

Noble Eightfold Path

Three Qualities	Eightfold Path
Wisdom (panna)	Right View
	Right Thought
Morality (sila)	Right Speech
	Right Action
	Right Livelihood
Meditation (samadhi)	Right Effort
	Right Mindfulness
	Right Contemplation

Three Characteristics of Existence
1. Transiency (anicca)
2. Sorrow (dukkha)
3. Selflessness (anatta)

Hindrances

1. Sensuous lust
2. Aversion and ill will
3. Sloth and torpor
4. Restlessness and worry
5. Sceptical doubt


Factors of Enlightenment

1. Mindfulness
2. Investigation
3. Energy
4. Rapture
5. Tranquillity
6. Concentration
7. Equanimity
_____________________
http://www.buddhaweb.org

War Profiteers

Sen-Elect McCaskill: "People Have Gotten Rich Off This War" And I Want To "Put A Stop To That"...

| Posted November 26, 2006 @ HuffPo

READ MORE: 2006, Iraq, CBS

Senator-Elect Claire McCaskill (D-MO) appeared on CBS Face The Nation Sunday morning. Among the many topics covered, McCaskill discussed her position on the Iraq war in the context of her recent appointment to the Senate Armed Services Committee. McCaskill strongly questions the role of money in the war, both in terms of the money the US government is putting into the war, as well as the money contractors and others are making in the rebuilding of Iraq.

Partial transcript:

"But I know as a new member of the Senate, and as a new member of the Armed Services Committee, I want to ask some questions, because this supplemental appropriation of $150 billion the President is going to ask for, clearly we need to have some accountability. People have gotten rich off this war, and I want to make sure we put a stop to that."

Watch the video... From CBS.

Evolver

It’s no longer about knowing what’s wrong. It’s about becoming what’s right. It’s about integrating logic and heart, vision and will. It’s about making life juicier by making good ideas real. A new world is springing up around us – of visionary politics and liberating hackers, earthly communities and galactic highs. Evolver magazine & media and the EVO membership are portals into this world.

Evolver media will spread the “new news” of what’s possible, focusing on active solutions, helpful products, new social movements, and do-it-yourself designs. At once open-source group-mind and creative meta-media, the Evolver Project is designed to creatively and quickly respond to our rapidly changing times. Through our partnerships, cultural mixology, and creatively engaged membership, the Evolver Project will also serve as a model for a passionate planetary culture: one jacked up on collaboration, connection, and exuberant renewal.

The Evolver Project is seeking contributions from artists, writers, filmmakers, photographers, visionaries, and dreamers of all kinds who are interested in giving form and expression to the emerging paradigm of planetary culture!

To submit art or short films, between 1 and 8 minutes: art@evolverproject.com To submit writing: submissions@evolverproject.com

Lady Vengeance

John Lennon Day

John Lennon's Widow Calls for Healing

(AP) Japanese-born artist Yoko Ono's is seen as she repeats her 1960s performance "Cut Piece", in Paris... Full Image

NEW YORK (AP) - Yoko Ono is calling for the anniversary of the death of her husband, John Lennon, to become a day of worldwide healing.

In a full-page advertisement appearing in Sunday editions of The New York Times, Ono urges readers to mark the anniversary by apologizing to those who have suffered because of violence and war.

"Every year, let's make December 8th the day to ask for forgiveness from those who suffered the insufferable," writes the former Beatle's widow, who signs the letter Yoko Ono Lennon.

Ono urges readers to take responsibility for failing to intervene on behalf of victims around the world.

"Know that the physical and mental abuse you have endured will have a lingering effect on our society," she writes in a portion of the letter directed to victims. "Know that the burden is ours."

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"Let's wish strongly that one day we will be able to say that we healed ourselves, and by healing ourselves, we healed the world."

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God Comes to Jaipur

India News - Kerala News

Jaipur, Nov 22 : Lordeshwar Bhagwan, a man in his mid-forties has claimed to be the only son of God and having supernatural powers to heal anyone suffering from any ailment.

"Lordeshwar means, the son of God. It is not just that I am claiming anything but I am the God. I know I am the God," says the Lordeshwar Bhagwan, who is said to be from Maharashtra's Jalgaon District.

"I don't think just about the welfare of any particular district or State of any country. I believe in doing good for the 'Maha-Rashtra' meaning the whole world," he said in an interview to the Sahara TV channel.

When asked that if there was a scientific basis for his claims, he said: "I don't need to prove myself before anyone. I am already certified but there are some people who are not ready to accept it as a fact. Of course, I am beyond any science".

Lordeshwar Bhagwan's actual name was R.C.Mishr who originally hails from Jaipur's Pushkar and is said to have renounced his family in 1992. Since then he has managed to raise many Ashrams in various parts of the country...

Olbermann: The Anti-O'Reilly

Olbermann taps a well of discontent as the anti-O'Reilly

C.W. Nevius -sf chronicle

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via: crooks and liars

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Olbermann Finds His Voice

By: Nicole Belle @

Regular readers of C&L know this already, but I thought I'd share this op-ed from my hometown paper:

SF Chronicle:

Keith Olbermann just needed to find his voice. He'd been a droll sportscaster, a serious news anchor and a bickering critic of Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. But none of those personas really clicked.

Then he found one. A little over a year ago, as the White House fumbled and botched the Hurricane Katrina recovery, Olbermann finally blew up.

He concluded a broadcast of his MSNBC cable news show, "Countdown,'' with an indignant rant in the rat-a-tat-tat cadence of his idol, Edward R. Murrow. He called it a "Special Comment.''

And just like that, Olbermann found his voice — the angry everyman. He became a liberal counterpoint to conservative media ranters like O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh, and an Internet star, too.

The result has been a cultural earthquake.

Read on…

Be sure to read the props from new boss, Dan Abrams. Do the right-wingers still want to tell us that he's one Special Comment away from being sacked?

Filed Under: Countdown/Keith Olbermann

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C&L's Olbermann archive
C&L's O'Reilly archive

Smooth

Revolution

Pentagonese

How to Speak Pentagonese

While you’re employed by the Department of Defense, you will replace words in the left-hand column with words in the right-hand column:

Don’t Say This…		Say This!
Permanent military bases		Enduring military bases
Occupation forces		Liberating coalition forces
Iraqi Freedom fighters		Criminal insurgents
Illegal secret kidnapping		Extraordinary rendition
Torture		Interrogation technique
The US Constitution.		“Just a goddamn piece of paper.” *
Anti-war advocates		Terrorist supporters
Stall the press with more bullshit.		The Pentagon is launching a full investigation.
The President pleads the fifth.		The President refuses to comment on national security matters.
Cheny lied out the front of his face…		Cheney misled…
Get a second opinion		Listen to the extremist ideology of Islamofacist evildoers
Invade another nation.		Defend freedom around the globe.
Civil war		Making progress

*That’s a quote from the President, not the Pentagon. See this Capital Hill Blue article: President Curses US Constitution.

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via: hard-boiled dreams...