BS: Random Traces From All Over

Subject: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 10:07 AM

For those who feel the world is too defined, too ordered, and too local, I offer this entertainment: a thread in which to place short notes of completely random memes, bits of the unexpected, the irrelevant, the serendipitous and the sort of pieces of information that make you turn sharply to the left instead of continuing what you were looking at a moment ago. Here's an example:

It is interesting to note that when Diocletian issued his famous edict (referred to in Brother Lemert's letter) he believed that in burning the manuscripts of the alchemists he was destroying the source of the Egyptian gold supply. On this see "Demonology and Devil-Lore" in two volumes, by Moncure Conway, Vol. II, page 303.

A real "go-figger" sort of moment, huh?

Regards.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: GUEST,Keinstein
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:08 AM

Diocletian was trying to reform the economy of the Roman empire, and feared that if the alchemists succeeded in creating gold, its value would be lost and inflation would ensue.

Don't forget that Newton believed transformation of base metals to gold to be possible. Under the ancient system of four elements, every substance* was made up of a mixture of Earth, Air, Fire and Water where these were the 'ideal' versions of earth, fire, air and water. It should therefore be possible to rearrange the components to change one metal to another.

Newton rejected this system, but still believed that the fundamental elements were few, so the same argument applied. It was only via a 300 year diversion, through the 100-odd chemical elements, that Newton's few fundamental particles came to be known as quarks, and that no simple chemical reaction had the energy to provide the desired transformation.

As for Brother Lemert and Moncure Conway, I expect these are earlier or later alchemists, who are still around today, and still can't get their experiments to work except in a spiritual sort of way.

(*word used in the modern sense.)

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 12:22 PM

A ricochet from another partt of the jungle altogether:

"On a warm winter afternoon in Guangzhou, I accompanied Chinese police officers on a factory raid in a decrepit tenement. Inside, we found two dozen children, ages 8 to 13, gluing and sewing together fake luxury-brand handbags. The police confiscated everything, arrested the owner and sent the children out. Some punched their timecards, hoping to still get paid. (The average Chinese factory worker earns about $120 a month; the counterfeit factory worker earns half that or less.) As we made our way back to the police vans, the children threw bottles and cans at us. They were now jobless and, because the factory owner housed them, homeless. It was "Oliver Twist" in the 21st century. " (NY Times columnist)

Thanks for the exposition on Diocletius. Makes a bit more sense in that context.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 12:34 PM

Ah, but there is a connection between your two posts, Amos. Both have to do with attempts to prevent counterfeiting.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 12:35 PM

And from Chinese Fagins to Christian saints in a single bound:

"THE stunning revelations contained in a new book, which show that Mother Teresa doubted God's existence, will delight her detractors and confuse her admirers. Or is it the other way around?

The private journals and letters of the woman now known as Blessed Teresa of Calcutta will be released next month as "Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light," and some excerpts have been published in Time magazine. The pious title of the book, however, is misleading. Most of its pages reveal not the serene meditations of a Catholic sister confident in her belief, but the agonized words of a person confronting a terrifying period of darkness that lasted for decades.

"In my soul I feel just that terrible pain of loss," she wrote in 1959, "of God not wanting me — of God not being God — of God not existing." According to the book, this inner turmoil, known by only a handful of her closest colleagues, lasted until her death in 1997...."

Zip! Pow! Kaaa ziiing!

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 12:40 PM

JAMARCUS MARSHALL, a 17-year-old high school sophomore in Mansfield, La., believes that no one should be able to tell him how low to wear his jeans. "It's up to the person who's wearing the pants," he said.

The reaction reminds some of the outrage engendered by zoot suit styles during the 1940s. Mr. Marshall's sagging pants, a style popularized in the early 1990s by hip-hop artists, are becoming a criminal offense in a growing number of communities, including his own.

Starting in Louisiana, an intensifying push by lawmakers has determined pants worn low enough to expose underwear poses a threat to the public, and they have enacted indecency ordinances to stop it.

Since June 11, sagging pants have been against the law in Delcambre, La., a town of 2,231 that is 80 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. The style carries a fine of as much as $500 or up to a six-month sentence. "We used to wear long hair, but I don't think our trends were ever as bad as sagging," said Mayor Carol Broussard.

An ordinance in Mansfield, a town of 5,496 near Shreveport, subjects offenders to a fine (as much as $150 plus court costs) or jail time (up to 15 days). Police Chief Don English said the law, which takes effect Sept. 15, will set a good civic image.

...Efforts to outlaw sagging in Virginia and statewide in Louisiana in 2004, failed, usually when opponents invoked a right to self-expression. But the latest legislative efforts have taken a different tack, drawing on indecency laws, and their success is inspiring lawmakers in other states.

In the West Ward of Trenton, Councilwoman Annette Lartigue is drafting an ordinance to fine or enforce community service in response to what she sees as the problem of exposing private parts in public.

...The American Civil Liberties Union has been steadfast in its opposition to dress restrictions. ...

School districts have become more aggressive ... Restrictions have been devised for jeans, miniskirts, long hair, piercing, logos with drug references and gang-affiliated clothing including colors, hats and jewelry.

Dress codes are showing up in unexpected places. The National Basketball Association now stipulates that no sports apparel, sunglasses, headgear, exposed chains or medallions may be worn at league-sponsored events. After experiencing a brawl that spilled into the stands and generated publicity headaches, the league sought to enforce a business-casual dress code, saying that hip-hop clothing projected an image that alienated middle-class audiences.
...


Not since the zoot suit has a style been greeted with such strong disapproval. The exaggerated boxy long coat and tight-cuffed pants, started in the 1930s, was the emblematic style of a subculture of young urban minorities. It was viewed as unpatriotic and flouted a fabric conservation order during World War II. The clothing was at the center of what were called Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, racially motivated beatings of Hispanic youths by sailors. The youths were stripped of their garments, which were burned in the street.

---

AIn't we just a touchy species, though?


A

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Uncle_DaveO
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 05:31 PM

As to Mother Teresa, two comments:

A number of religious figures, including Billy Graham and one of the "big name" Catholic saints (whose name my aging brain refuses to divulge at the moment) had their periods of great doubt. Join the parade, Mother Teresa!

This news about her doubts just goes to show that belief in a god is not necessary to a moral, a charitable, dare I say a "saintly" life? The kindness, the service, the charity, the virtue is, as the cliche says, "its own reward".

Dave Oesterreich

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 06:14 PM

"Q: How many tickets will you actually sell at the $10 rate?
A: We've sold 200,000 of them. We guarantee that on every flight there will always be at least 10 seats sold at $10. But even if you could fly for $100 one way to almost anywhere in the country, don't you think there would be a lot of demand for that? In our first month, 86 percent of our seats have been full. For a start-up, that's an amazing number."

(Skybus Airlies CEO in a PopSci interview)

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 06:16 PM

Threats of eviction were not enough. Neither were hefty compensation offers or the colossal pit surrounding their house. Yang Wu and his wife, Wu Ping, residents of the central Chinese city of Chongqing, had made their decision: they were staying put, and no construction project or municipal order was going to dislodge them. By fighting city hall, the couple sparked a nationwide debate about a new law that promised private property protections unprecedented in the history of the People's Republic. Yang and Wu eventually gave up their fight — the house has since been demolished and the owners remunerated — but the legacy of their struggle continues to resonate, raising questions about the ramifications of China's new property legislation. Specifically, can this law ever be implemented successfully, and if so, what will its effects be? Regardless of the exact legal outcome, the law certainly constitutes a symbolic turning point in China's move from a socialist to a market economy.

(HBR on-line)

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Rapparee
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:29 PM

Cahokia is not only the largest prehistoric metropolis north of Mexico, it also has the largest prehistoric mound. Monks mound measures at least 291 m (955 feet) north-south and 236 meters (774.3 feet) east-west. Its height is between 28 meters (92 feet) and 30 m (99 feet). Research has revealed new puzzles, suggesting that it is a very complicated structure. Undoubtedly, the builders did some clever engineering to keep this and other mounds from collapsing. This should not be a surprise, because even the 5000 – 6000 years ago megalithic tombs of the Funnel Beaker culture in Central and North Europe exhibit special internal features designed to drain water away. In all, there are at least 104 mounds at Cahokia.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Bert
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:49 PM

"It's up to the person who's wearing the pants,"

Or as my Dad would have said. "As long as they cover their confusion"

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 30 Aug 07 - 11:57 PM

First I have ever heard it called that, Bert!

"Contrary to the assumption that ancient cities always grew outwards from a central point, the urban site of Tell Brak in north-eastern Syria appears to have emerged as several nearby settlements melded together, according to researchers' analysis of archaeological evidence.

Experts say that the findings lend support to the theory that early Mesopotamian cities developed as a result of grassroots organisation, rather than a mandate from a central authority.

The new study provides important details about Tell Brak, helping to make it "the first early city of which we have a picture about how it formed," comments Geoff Emberling at the Oriental Institute Museum in Chicago, Illinois, US, who was not involved in this study but has done archaeological work at Tell Brak.

Located in north-eastern Syria, Tell Brak lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and can therefore be considered as an ancient Mesopotamian site. It is thought to have been settled as early as 6000 BCE, according to Harvard University researcher Jason Ur."

(New Scientist web site)

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:06 AM

"Not only are fractals beautiful, but they master key features of the "roughness" of nature and culture, including metal fractures, turbulence, financial markets and music. Such complexity is recognised as a key frontier but it can seldom be handled directly. It is often useful - and sometimes even sufficient at first - to begin by studying the roughness of things.

Plato's list of the sensations of man included heaviness, bigness, hotness, colour, pitch and roughness. Each of these developed into a chapter of physics, except for roughness, which remained a backwater. There was no agreed way of measuring it, and science can begin only when a notion is quantified.

Fractals have provided the first proper measure of roughness. Measurements proposed earlier failed because they implicitly assumed that roughness was an insignificant, mild disturbance when in fact it is wild and hard to deal with. The fractal geometry of roughness is set to expand rapidly and carve itself an increasingly central role."

Bernard Mandelbrot, writing in the New Scientist

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Bert
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:10 AM

...several nearby settlements melded together...

Kinda like Greater London.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:14 AM

"It is thought to have been settled as early as 6000 BCE,"

Musta been a hell of a sprint to there from the Garden of Eden then....

Oh, of course, it got wiped out in The Flood...


:-P

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 12:24 AM

""Mother Teresa: Come Be My Light," and some excerpts have been published in Time magazine. The pious title of the book, however, is misleading. Most of its pages reveal not the serene meditations of a Catholic sister confident in her belief, but the agonized words of a person confronting a terrifying period of darkness that lasted for decades. "

Martin Luther went thru such self doubt and agony centuries ago.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: GUEST,PMB
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 04:10 AM

Futakuchi-onna are characterized as having two mouths, the regular one and another on the back of the head beneath the hair, where the woman's skull splits apart, forming lips, teeth, a tongue, creating an entirely-functional second mouth.

As if that weren't bad enough, the mouth begins the mumble spiteful and threatening things to itself, and demand food. If it is not fed, it will screech obscenely and cause the woman tremendous pain. Eventually the woman's hair begins to move like a pair of serpents, allowing the mouth to help itself to the woman's meals.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:03 AM

– Thailand said today that it will drop its four-month digital blockade of YouTube, allowing its citizens to view the site without interference once again, because YouTube has agreed to take its own measures to prevent users in Thailand from viewing content that violates Thai law — specifically, anything deemed insulting to the country or its revered king.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:04 AM

The astonishingly handsome, road-weary man sitting beside me at the Howard Johnson's counter seemed larger than life but strangely unexcited about the forthcoming publication of his second novel, On the Road, years after he had composed it at white heat on a 120-foot-long, taped-together scroll of drafting paper. He told me he was hoping the book would bring him a little money and some recognition in literary circles for what he called his "spontaneous bop prose." Numerous publishers had rejected it, and even Viking Press had kept it on ice for two years, fearful of lawsuits as well as the consequences of bringing it out at a time when the novels of Henry Miller and D. H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover were banned in the United States. The date Viking had finally selected was September 1957, fifty years ago this month. For all their caution, Jack's editors were as unprepared as he was for the book's profound and immediate impact. Who could have predicted that an essentially plotless novel about the relationship between two rootless young men who seemed constitutionally unable to settle down was about to kick off a culture war that is still being fought to this day?...

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:09 AM

The Vatican launched its chartered air service for pilgrims headed to Lourdes this week, but travelers on the way back had to dump their precious bottles of holy water. The headrests may be emblazoned with the Latin words for "I search for your face, oh Lord," but even those on a mission for God can't carry more than 100ml of liquid, holy or not, onto the plane. From The Telegraph:
Many hoped to ferry the water back to sick relatives.

Instead, dozens of plastic containers in the shape of the Madonna were left at security, while one man decided to drink all of his.

Monsignor Liberio Andreatta, the official on board from the Vatican's travel agency, did not even try to argue with the rules, to the dismay of the pilgrims.

---

Render unto Caesar...

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:12 AM

IBM today announced two major scientific achievements in the field of nanotechnology that could one day lead to new kinds of devices and structures built from a few atoms or molecules. Such Lilliputian, atomic-scale devices might be used as future computer chips, storage devices, sensors and for applications nobody has imagined yet. The work will be unveiled tomorrow in two reports being published by the journal Science. In the first report, IBM scientists describe major progress in probing a property called magnetic anisotropy in individual atoms. This fundamental measurement has important technological consequences because it determines an atom's ability to store information. Previously, nobody had been able to measure the magnetic anisotropy of a single atom.

---

And unto God.... um....

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:17 AM

What to do with your sock monkey when he has been bad.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 10:35 AM

Atheist Madeline Murry O'Hare celebrated her certainty and was not troubled by religious dought. She was murdered along with two of her children but her remaing son William 'Bill' Murray claimed he had a vision and became a preacher who went on to direct the Evangelical American Freedom Coalition and is still in close contact with President Bush. He continues to this day to denigrate his mother's belief in atheism.

He was also the person who presided over the marriage ceremony at my wedding.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 11:34 AM

COngratulations on a really kinked link to fame, Donuel!! :D


A

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Donuel
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 03:11 PM

I wanted an athiest wedding so this was my wife's idea of a compromise at the time. Little did we know he would go on to be a wealthy Falwellesque whacko.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 04:48 PM

[¶16.] We hold that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Brown's motion for a new trial. There is adequate evidence in the record to support its conclusion that MCX was not telling the truth when she recanted her testimony. First, she was the victim of her father's sexual depravity. Then, her mother, Lawana Brown, who, having failed to protect her daughters from the sexual depredations of their father even though she was fully aware of his inclinations from her husband's own admissions, instead heaped upon MCX her scorn and rejection. After being rejected by her mother and shuffled from foster home, to group home, to state institution, and back again, MCX did the only thing she could to endeavor to win back the affection of her mother - tell a lie and hope to free her father from prison. This case does not present an issue of whether or not MCX chooses to be a victim, for she is victim twice over, but rather whether the district court properly concluded that, in truth, she was a victim. We hold the district court did not abuse its discretion in concluding that MCX was the victim of her father's incest. To MCX we offer our empathy, for this course of proceedings is quite common in cases such as this.

(From Brown Vs State of Wyoming

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 31 Aug 07 - 05:22 PM

...Horses can actually sing, and whatever they manage to utter, it is folk music and can be packaged nicely and sold as such by the machinations of the music business and the Folk Alliance. This truth has been codified in many threads here at Mudcat. This, along with the amazing sales of PURE and HEALTHY bottled "actually tap" water continue to prove the old saying, "Fame is proof that people are gullible!"

Art Thieme

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 12:20 AM

Don't let me the last word in this good thread.

I have been involved in a real form of alchemy my whole life long. I sang into the wind, and came home with the rent...

Art

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 07:19 AM

"Render unto Caesar... "

I only wish the American Taliban would be so submissive...

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 01 Sep 07 - 04:17 PM

BWS: Affairs of the heart and the spirit are matters of feeling or intuition. You're better off asking your pocket calculator about the meaning of life than asking thought; at least the calculator won't mislead you. The material world is thought's arena. Serious questions concerning the inner life are beyond the limited capacity of thought, which is restricted to ideas and opinions. Thought can recite poems about what life is, or offer scientific descriptions of what life may be, but in the end it will fail to arrive at the heart of the matter. Whatever you may "think" will never be Truth; at best it will be theory or speculation. In matters of the Spirit, trust your heart rather than the opinions of others, including mine.

Q: Are you implying that there are two minds?

BWS: Not at all. The subtle and gross minds are only aspects of the unmanifest Source, which is who we are in truth. The subtle mind is that aspect of mind that is in natural harmony with the physical universe. The gross, egocentric mind governs the life of the apparent "individual." Transformation occurs when the gross mind experientially encounters the intelligence and harmony of the eternal Source and is rendered subtle. Remember, these are just aspects of the one unmanifest Source from which they emerged.


(From the website of an Oscar-winning director turned guru)

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 11:09 AM

Great Thread. Where else can you get alchemy, doubts of faith, and singing horses combined. Art, I heard that there was actually a talking horse (not Mr. Ed). If you asked if he wanted to eat oats, he would utter, from his back end, "just a few" in a fragrant whisper.

On the topic of destroying old alchemy works: I recall reading an account of some 19th century missionaries going to sub-Saharan Africa and getting the new converts to destroy all their sculptures, because they were idols. And, otherwise distrupting their lives. The missionaries were civilized, after all.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Metchosin
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 12:02 PM

Having two left feet is sometimes expected, but two right?

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Alice
Date: 02 Sep 07 - 12:29 PM

RE the sagging pants...
Police have asked that the laws against sagging pants be repealed.
Criminals have a hard time running in the baggy pants, and it helps give the pursuing police
an edge when on the chase.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Bill D
Date: 04 Sep 07 - 10:05 PM

FLIES PREFER FIZZY DRINKS


Fruit flies like a splash of soda water in their drinks, according to UC Berkeley neuroscientist Kristin Scott and her colleagues. They discovered that the insect has specialized taste cells for carbonated water, probably to encourage them to binge on food with microorganisms like yeast and bacteria that give off carbon dioxide.


The full story is online at
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2007/08/29_fliesfizz.shtml

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Rapparee
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 09:41 AM

I'm glad that I'm not a famous music star!

Pop Stars More Than Twice As Likely To Die An Early Death

Science Daily — Rock and pop stars are more than twice as likely as the rest of the population to die an early death, and within a few years of becoming famous, reveals just published research.

The findings are based on more than 1050 North American and European musicians and singers who shot to fame between 1956 and 1999. This includes all the musicians featured in the All Time Top 1000 albums, selected in 2000, and covering rock, punk, rap, R&B, electronica and new age genres.

How long the pop stars survived once they had achieved chart success and become famous was compared with the expected longevity of the general population, matched for age, sex, ethnicity and nationality, up to the end of 2005.

In all, 100 stars died between 1956 and 2005. The average age of death was 42 for North American stars and 35 for European stars.

Long term drug or alcohol problems accounted for more than one in four of the deaths.

When compared with the rest of the population in the UK and the US, rock and pop stars were around twice as likely to die early and even more likely to do so within five years of becoming famous.

Some 25 years after achieving fame, European pop stars returned to the same levels of life expectancy as the rest of the population. But North American stars continued to experience higher death rates.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 10:20 AM

Mayor of Russian town fights inefficiency by banning phrases like 'I can't'
Published: Tuesday, September 4, 2007 | 8:12 PM ET
Canadian Press: BAGILA BUKHARBAYEVA
MOSCOW (AP) - The mayor of a Siberian oil town has ordered his bureaucrats to stop using expressions such as "I don't know" and "I can't." Or look for another job.

Alexander Kuzmin, 33, who is mayor of Megion, has banned these and 25 other phrases as a way to make his administration more efficient, his spokeswoman said Tuesday.

"It's a suggestion to the staff that they should think before saying something," Oksana Shestakova said by telephone. "To say 'I don't know' is the same as admitting your helplessness."

To reinforce the ban, a framed list of the banned expressions has been hanging on the wall next to Kuzmin's office for the past two weeks, Shestakova said.

Some of the other prohibited phrases are "What can we do?" "It's not my job," "It's impossible," "I'm having lunch," "There is no money," and "I was away/sick/on vacation."

Kuzmin, a businessman who was elected mayor 1½ years ago, wants to "shake things up" in Megion, a town of 54,000 in the Khanty-Mansiisk region, the spokeswoman said.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 05 Sep 07 - 10:57 AM

Evolutionary Psychology vol 5, p 621
George Gallup, State University of New York, Albany

The first kiss can make or break a couple's relationship, suggests a new study.

A kiss may contain potentially important information about your kissing partner, says George Gallup at the State University of New York, Albany, US.

He surveyed 1041 students on their attitudes to kissing (Evolutionary Psychology, vol 5, p 612).

Some views verged on the predictable: women, for example, placed more emotional importance on a kiss, valuing kisses during and after sex, and throughout a relationship.

The men tended to see kissing as a means to an end – sex – and placed less importance on kissing as a relationship progresses. Just over half the men said they would have sex with someone without kissing, compared with 15% of women. And more men than women said that a good kiss was one with tongue contact, where the partner made moaning noises.

But Gallup says the first kiss a couple share could make or break the relationship. In a separate survey within the study, 59% of men and 66% of women reported on occasion finding themselves attracted to someone, only to lose interest after kissing them for the first time.

"The complicated exchange of information that occurs during a kiss may inform evolved, unconscious mechanisms about instances of possible genetic incompatibility," Gallup says.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: PMB
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 06:20 AM

Funny what you get from google:

Stop treading on my dreams x2 Out out out delilah Out out out stay out of my ... Cranberries

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 11:09 AM

13:09 07 September 2007
NewScientist.com news service
David Robson

'Crowd quakes' could be predicted by CCTV analysis

   Pressure waves that travel through tightly-packed crowds on the verge of panic could warn of impending disasters, such as the stampede on Saudi Arabia's Jamarat Bridge during the Hajj of 2006, researchers say.

The team studied footage of the tragedy and found crowds can experience sudden changes like shock waves, turbulence, and even "crowd quakes" when built-up tension is suddenly released. They think CCTV analysis could spot and warn of dangerous tensions before such an event.

Dirk Helbing of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, analysed the Jamarat Bridge footage along with Anders Johansson of Dresden University of Technology, Germany, and HE Habib Al-Abideen from Saudi Arabia's Central Directorate for Holy Areas Development.
Compression wavesThe researchers used software to simplify the video and represent members of the crowd as moving patches of colour. They measured features such as the density, speed, and "pressure" of the crowd.

As might be expected, the stampede occurred because too many people were funnelled into too small an area. But the team's analysis uncovered new features that might give forewarning of similar disasters.

Previous research suggested crowds move in smooth flows like a fluid, without sharp changes in direction. But, in this study, once the density of the crowd reached more than seven people per square metre this principle broke down.

Sharp compression waves moved through the crowd, shifting people back and forth – like grain or sand when driven through a funnel, says Helbing. During this period, which lasted 20 minutes, each person was alternately moving or stationary, and the waves of movement travelled through the crowd every 45 seconds. ...

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 07 Sep 07 - 12:10 PM

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lower hemlines are coming back in fashion for spring and that could spell bad news for the U.S. stock market.

The higher the hemlines, the better the outlook for stocks, according to a popular, but frequently disputed, theory. When hemlines drop, watch out -- the Dow Jones Industrial Average is likely to fall, the theory goes.

The past few fashion seasons, short skirts have ruled and, this spring, stocks rallied.

The hemline theory proved on the money as the Dow hit 14,000 for the first time this summer, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index set a record.

But in recent weeks, stocks have plunged following a jump in foreclosures on subprime home loans for borrowers with poor credit that hit bank credit lines and roiled the bond market.

At this week's fashion show extravaganza in New York, hemlines are markedly lower.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 10:46 AM

"Battery out of juice? Urine luck: Sorry, just had to get that out of my system before I mentioned a new power source on the market that you'll want to recharge in private. Now on sale in Japan, NoPoPo (Non-Pollution Power) Aqua Batteries come in AA and AAA sizes and can be renewed three to five times by adding a few drops of urine (or other bodily fluids more painful, troublesome or embarrassing to produce for this purpose). And it's green -- the technology, I mean..."

From the 'Good Morning Silicon Valley' newsletter.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 10:49 AM

And in New York, the three-story penthouse of the Hotel St. Pierre is available for interested buyers in the $70 million dollar range.

Rooms: 16.0
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 7.0
Library: Yes
Kitchen: Eat In
Outdoor space: Terrace
Woodburning fireplaces: 5
City views: Yes
River views: Yes
Park views: Yes
Air conditioning: Central Air

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 04:13 PM

And, just beyond the boundary of the Reality Adjustment Zone:

Apple sells 1 millionth iPhone
By Troy Wolverton
Mercury News
Article Launched: 09/11/2007 01:47:09 AM PDT



Apple sold its 1 millionth iPhone on Sunday, three weeks ahead of when it said it would and less than a week after slashing the price of the iconic device by a third, the company said Monday.

The milestone came 74 days after the company launched the device, its first cell phone. And it came earlier than previously predicted; Apple officials had forecast in July that iPhone sales would hit the 1 million mark by the end of this month.

"It took almost two years to achieve this milestone with iPod," company CEO Steve Jobs noted in a statement.

At a press event last week, Jobs announced that Apple was discontinuing a 4-gigabyte version of the iPhone and dropping the price of its 8-gigabyte version to $399 from $599. The company hoped to boost sales of the device over the holidays, Jobs said.

The move followed questions about demand for the iPhone. Sales from the initial weekend were running at a rate that was below some of the wilder estimates on Wall Street. And last week, consumer data from research firm iSuppli suggested that sales of the iPhone fell off sharply in July and were not on pace then to meet Apple's 1 million target.



Wow. "Creating your reality" may not work for Republicans, but it sure works for Stevey. Maybe that's because he's walked the walk and paid his dues in real time.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 04:35 PM

And a bit beyond....


We brought the news to you first just a week ago and even made fun of it earlier today, but now it's official -- here in Frankfurt, Lamborghini just rolled out its first entry in the seven-figure car sweepstakes. To be dubbed Reventon, it's based on the Murcielago LP640, and it'll cost a breezy one-million euros. Only 20 are set to be constructed, and all have been already betrothed to high rollers who've reportedly ponied up more than $300,000 each as a deposit. Rumors had indicated the car was inspired by jet fighters, a prospect bourne out by the greenish dash cluster. It even has a gauge to track G forces, just in case you weren't busy enough making that sweeping left hander off the back straight on track day. The official rollout will take place at the show tomorrow. We'll be there...

Images of the one-million Euro Lamborghini can be viewed here.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Donuel
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 11:17 PM

When driving I have a secret ritual. It involves a Zen like control of the brake system. The object is to stop the car while retaining the sensation of forward motion with no sound or groan from the brakes or even the slightest sensation of the tires coming to a stop.

Techniques vary with the grade of the road and rate of stopping.
The greater the grade the more difficult a perfect stop will become.
Perfection is achieved in only one in a hundred stops but when I have a transitionless stop it is a thing of beauty like truely sensing the secret ceasation of the pendulum.

Should you actually hit a police car's bumper while practicing this discipline it would be wise to not expound on the intricacies of the transitionless stop.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 11 Sep 07 - 11:55 PM

And above all DON'T tell the nice officer where the idea came form...

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Bee
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 10:22 AM

From Pharyngula:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/09/on_the_utility_of_mice.php

From a 16th-17th century bestiary by Edward Topsell that explains the importance and usefulness of various animals, including mice. Mice seemed to do everything.

A mouse can be skinned, cut in two, and placed over an arrow wound to help the healing process; if a mouse is beaten into pieces and mixed with old wine, the concoction will cause hair to grow on the eyelids; if skinned, steeped in oil, and rubbed with salt, the mouse will cure pains in the lungs; sodden mice can prevent children from urinating too much; mice that are burned and converted to powder are fine for cleaning the teeth; mouse dung, prepared in various manners, is useful for treating sciatica, headache, migraine, the tetters, scabs, red bunches on the head, gout, wounds, spitting of blood, colick, constipation, stones, producing abortions, putting on weight, and increasing lactation in women.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 03:40 PM

Mars rover starts long-awaited drive into giant crater

After three months of delays, the Mars rover Opportunity has made its first tentative dip into a deep crater called Victoria
19:44 12 September 2007

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Amos
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 03:42 PM

Male chimpanzees will risk serious injury to provide females with the "forbidden fruit" that they crave, reveals a study of chimps in western Africa.

The males advertise their prowess and impress potential mates by stealing papaya from local farms, researchers found.

Kim Hockings at the University of Stirling, UK and colleagues spent two years observing the behaviour of a chimpanzee group living in wild forest surrounding a farming village in the Republic of Guinea. They noticed several of the male chimps in the group ventured repeatedly into the crop fields, even though farmers tried beating them away with sticks.

The males sought a special treat that they could not find in the forest – papaya fruit. And before scrambling to take this forbidden fruit, the animals showed signs of nervousness, such as scratching their bodies, which indicates they understood the dangers of getting caught. "They won't get killed, but they're clearly nervous," explains Jim Anderson at the University of Stirling, a study co-author.

The risky theft of papaya, however, appears to have a sweet reward. Researchers found this out when they followed three adult male chimps that had stolen papaya and watched what happened when the animals returned to join their group.

Currying favour
It turns out that the males often offered up their booty to females – and when they did, they gave it to females of reproductive age about 90% of the time. One particular female that was extremely willing to mate with the males after receiving papaya got more than 50% of the stolen fruit offerings.

Subject: RE: BS: Random Traces From All Over
From: Metchosin
Date: 12 Sep 07 - 03:58 PM

My daughter recently visitied the city of Nanaimo and noticed a newly constructed retirement home. Obviously not much thought had been given the name or perhaps it had. LOL The new retirement complex is called Hecate Gardens, she assumed after Hecate Strait on the west coast here. However, the Greek goddess Hectate is usually associated with graveyards and death.