Gift item for today (take two)

You know how your boys all want one of these killer robo insects to play with?


well now there is Flitter fairies for your little "sarahConner princess"

Stuff below the fold

for geeks only: TheOneRingNet has videos from ComicCon...talking about the Hobbit and what is WETA doing.

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Check out Lileks' new blog...
"...This blog covers everything except sports and gardening, unless we find a really good link about using dead professional bowlers for mulch..."

full of stuff like this one on the real Piccard...

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StrategyPage discusses C rations vs MRE's

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SenseOfEventsBlog notes that this is Tisha B'Av, and explains what it means.

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PrayersPoetryPraiseBlog has this poem about a trip to Lourdes:

Gazing at one tiny violet
Centres the mind
For at its heart
There is nothing but the radiating gold
Of life's promise

One flower is enough
To bring down from heaven
The rain of the future
The light of tomorrow

To produce
More violets
More flowers
For the crown of glory.

Gift Item of the day

Leave logic behind.

Silly me.
Real women know that men are not logical when it comes to love...

(headsup Dustbury)


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and for those of you who prefer StarWars to StarTrek:

A Death Star Cookie Jar

buy it HERE.

Remember: Life is short

A friend of mine opened his wife's underwear drawer and picked up a silk paper wrapped package :

'This' - he said - 'isn't any ordinary package.'

He unwrapped the box and stared at both the silk paper and the box.

'She got this the first time we went to New York , 8 or 9 years ago. She has never put it on , was saving it for a special occasion.
Well , I guess this is it. He got near the bed and placed the gift box next to the other clothing he was taking to the funeral house , his wife had just died..

He turned to me and said :
'Never save something for a special occasion. Every day in your life is a special occasion'.

I still think those words changed my life.

Now I read more and clean less.

I sit on the porch without worrying about anything.

I spend more time with my family , and less at work.

I understood that life should be a source of experience to be lived up to , not survived through. I no longer keep anything..

I use crystal glasses every day... I'll wear new clothes to go to the
supermarket , if I feel like it.

I don't save my special perfume for special occasions , I use it
whenever I want to.

The words 'Someday....' and ' One Day...' are fading away from my dictionary. If it's worth seeing , listening or doing , I want to see , listen or do it now...

I don't know what my friend's wife would have done if she knew she wouldn't be there the next morning , this nobody can tell.. I think she might have called her relatives and closest friends.

She might call old friends to make peace over past quarrels. I'd like to think she would go out for Chinese , her favorite food.

It's these small things that I would regret not doing , if I knew my time had come.

your email of the day from Tia Maria

Cat photo of the day

moar funny pictures

Julie et Julia

Epicurious blog reminds us that the film Julie and Julia is coming out in August...and includes these links:

there is a contest here, just upload your photos of Julia inspired dishes (no, I don't think Pusit Adobo is on the list)...

and PBS has some Julia videos to watch...

Stuff below the fold

Modern Martyrs: I argue at BNN that they are more common than one realizes...

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Prejudice is alive and well...among the elites at Columbia Journalism School...

and a lot of the kerfluffle about Professor Gates is that working class folks see him as an elitist snob who thinks he is better than the working class cops, not as a black man who is a victim of racism....sigh....I think the whole thing is silly, as I posted here.

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Whale saves Diver...
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Is there danger of a Taliban like takeover of oil rich Nigeria?
and then there is that internet blackout in West Africa...

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and what about those Swedish rockets, sold to Venezuela, ending up in FARC's hands?

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and the most important headline of the day:

Earth landing for 'space cheese'

A block of cheese launched into the upper atmosphere on Tuesday has been found undamaged in Buckinghamshire.

for awhile they thought it was lost

The 300g wedge of authentic handmade West Country Farmhouse Cheddar ascended to approximately 100,000 feet attached to a specially designed capsule, built by the dairy farmers behind barn doors. The capsule contained a GPS satellite tracking device.

But the group have now admitted they have lost track of the capsule telling BBC Wiltshire: "We've been tracking the trajectory and the current prediction is that it could land anywhere from here in Wiltshire to Hemel Hempstead.

well, it's a more interesting story than this one...

Since January, more than 1.5 million people have logged on to Cheddarvision.tv to watch a 44-pound round of cheese as it matures.

Headlines below the fold

Quiet Rebellion continues in Iran...LATimes story......StrategyPage give background....
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and after kicking Israel in the balls, Obama is sending in Gates to try to persuade Israel to give diplomacy another chance ...
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NGO's to promote abortion in Central America where even the commies oppose abortion ...

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Ferry capsizes in Surigao, all are safe...no typhoon but lots of thunderstorms with wind for the last few days...

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We are seeing lots of flu in kids here...we rank #3 in the number of flu cases, (30 confirmed) and I suspect a lot aren't seeing docs or getting counted...the cases I've seen have mostly been mild (and my case was mild, probably from partial immunity) but I saw one child that was so sick I sent him right to the hospital...

But even here the thieves are making money: headline announces NBI confiscates fake flu vaccine...

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Yellow ribbons all over Manila....
Cory is dying of cancer..

Family News

Trade fair in Cabanatuan, rice deliveries in Manila, and Joy is in Manila overnight with Ruby for trade fair and homeschool meetings.

I presume we are getting ready for Robin and kids coming next Monday.

Blackout much of yesterday, and two short blackouts last night...when the lights go off, it is really really dark around here.

Luckily we have two generators, and only one is on the blink (to be fixed later today). So don't worry Robin, you'll have airconditioning, and if not, you can cool off in our fountain.

Craft item of the day

Yes, it's August and a bit too early for stores to post Christmas sales...(although I understand some do).

But if you are a knitter/crocheter, these things take time. And LionBrand website has several suggestions for you, including afghans and bags and sweaters (none of which we use here in the tropics) and some Amigurumi toys/ornaments for your crafting pleasure.

Free registration required.

Stuff below the fold

When did (wo)men invent clothing? here

WaynesWorld discusses the use of plant fibers

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Taiwan is digging up evidence of early human, 20thousand BC...were the earliest settlers Negritos?

In the Philippines, there are still Negrito tribes, and you still see country folks with kinky hair and Negroid feature suggesting intermarriage in the past, or maybe Aeta who migrated down here after being displaced after Mt Pinatubo erupted.

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Dance part II

Go HERE to see Maria Tallchief and Rudolf Nureyev dancing...they won't allow embedding...

"The Five Moons depict Oklahoma’s five internationally acclaimed Native American ballerinas: Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin, Maria Tallchief, and Marjorie Tallchief."

But here is another video, albeit poorer quality film:

Maria Tallchief & Royes Fernandez dance "Pas de Deux" from Les Sylphides

Merce Cunningham RIP

Choreographer Merce Cunningham has died at age 90.

Gift item of the day

a HelloKitty Beer Stein


in which you can drink your HelloKitty Beer
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(headsup HelloKitty Hell Blog).
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Stuff below the fold

The netbot attack against the US and South Korean sites was thought to be from North Korean hackers...or was it? Discussion here

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How to tweet from your browser

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Living on a budget?
Here is a discussion on the economics of marriage in Jane Austen's time.
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Webecoist has some awesome photos and discussion of whirlpools and maelstroms...

Very small whirlpools can be seen spinning when a sink drains, but the powerful whirlpools in nature are magnificent and destructive. A whirlpool of extraordinary size or violence is a maelstrom. The swirling vortex is deadly.

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The perils of living on a tropical island...the LATimes discusses a Philippine outpost in the Spratlys islands...

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and, from Japan: A basketball playing robot.

Movie trivia

the 100 best movie lines in 200 seconds

Headsup Volokh conspiracy

Gift Item of the day

Would you buy a used perfume from these guys?

Cadillac

Beauty Contact Inc., a Dubai-based cosmetic company and holder of the fragrance licence, said it will launch the Cadillac line in stores this fall to mark the brand’s 100th anniversary.

“Cadillac, the new fragrance for men is part of the recent Cadillac renaissance: Hot new products and redesigns that capture the mantra of life, liberty and the pursuit,” said Alwyn Stephen, a Beauty Contact director.

“Our fragrance is a relevant extension of the Cadillac lifestyle.”

(via Dustbury)

Eight Irish Blessings

check link for slide show.

first blessing is:

May you always have...
Walls for the winds
A roof for the rain
Tea beside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
Those you love near you
And all your heart might desire.

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yes, I've visited Ireland... and it is indeed emerald green, and lovely.

what impressed me is that county Mayo was half empty and was being reforested again...
all those who lived there had died or gone away...

As my husband once told me: You can't eat scenery.

The "We're all gonna die" post of the day

Swine flu could kill hundreds of thousands in U.S. if vaccine fails, CDC says

Aman Sharma / Associated Press

Swine flu vaccine in Australia, where the first human trials of the vaccine have begun. The vaccine isn't expected to be available in the U.S. until after school starts.

As much as 40% of the workforce could be affected during the peak of a pandemic, health officials say, noting low resistance to the H1N1 virus and its persistence through the summer months.
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the reason I posted the below cartoon is to point out that a huge health care bill ignores the different reasons for lack of health insurance.

Each population needs a different solution...

The young could just pay a "catastrophic" insurance fee, in case they break their leg or get into a car wreck.

as for the immigrants without papers: From a public health standpoint, they could spread disease because they don't see doctors early (usually they come into the Emergency rooms at 11 pm, and pay cash)...

So maybe more federal clinics for those without insurance...

The Uninsured

Music interlude for today

while checking on some of the hymns/music in the below post, I ran into a series of you tube films posted by a choir director.

Here is an one example:

Music downloads of the day

CosmosLiturgySex blog has a link to the Sacred Music Colloquium in Chicago, who has a lot of downloads of classic religious music in mp3 form for your listening pleasure.

more HERE.

Insomnia download of the day

For your listening pleasure:

Cicero's Philippics, or nasty overblown speeches.

From Wikipedia:

During the chaotic latter half of the first century B.C. marked by civil wars and the dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar, Cicero championed a return to the traditional republican government. However, his career as a statesman was marked by inconsistencies and a tendency to shift his position in response to changes in the political climate. His indecision may be attributed to his sensitive and impressionable personality; he was prone to overreaction in the face of political and private change. "

In other words, he was the "Rush Limbaugh" of ancient Rome...but exposing the corruption and powergrabbing tactics of Mark Anthony to all and sundry.


and one of Caesar Augustus' regrets was that he agreed to let Mark Anthony execute him for treason..

most of you probably know him from the HBO series Rome, where he is played by David Bamber.

HelloKitty in space

HelloKittyHell has a link to a guy who makes HelloKitty into various TV and movie characters.



Joseph's MySpace has her as DarthVader, as a stormtrooper, as an Imperial Guard, as Boba Fett, as C3PO....

and also as Kirk, as Spock, as a StarTrekRedHShirt, and other characters we all enjoy and love.

Words of wisdom

I've learned that, no matter what happens, how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles four things:
a rainy day, the elderly, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.

I've learned that making a 'living' is not the same thing as making a 'life..'

I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance.

I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands.You nee d to be able to throw something back sometimes.

I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you
But, if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others,
your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you

I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision.

I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one.

I've learned that every day, you should reach out and touch someone.

People love that human touch -- holding hands, a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.

I've learned that I still have a lot to learn.

your email of the day from TiaMaria

News you can use

whoops:

according to BoingBoing, ATM's in California won't accept Arnold's IOU's....







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Boing Boing also links to a photo of a celestial soap bubble...


The "Cygnus Bubble" nebula may actually be a cylinder that is being seen from one of its ends. This image was taken with the Kitt Peak Mayall 4-metre telescope in Arizona (Image: Travis A. Rector/U of Alaska Anchorage/Heidi Schweiker/NOAO)



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Curious Expeditions Blog relates the history of Haint Blue, and explains why shutters are traditionally painted blue or green...

According to African folk belief, the blue keeps the spirits of the dead from entering your home...

The modern explanation for using the colour? It repels insects.

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The Kerfluffle about Amazon withdrawing the book "1984" from people's Kindles was a ploy to encourage publishers to allow them to market E Books....

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First they destroy embryos to make stem cells...
now they are making embryos from adult stem cells.?

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LewRockwell compares Tolkien with Ayn Rand in discussing freedom...
I don't quite agree, because the philosophy at the heart of Rand is materialism and achievement, while the heart of Tolkien is the Catholic universe quietly ruled by "love that moves the sun and the other stars..."
(headsup TeaAtTrianon)

Caring for the elderly

The Anchoress has an essay on the Little Sisters of the Poor.

They were founded in France. After the Napoleonic wars left many war widows, as they aged they had no one to care for them. A kitchen maid named Jeanne Jugan started helping some elderly, and those who helped her eventually became a new order of nuns.

The Wooden Bowl

With all the talk in the New York Times about "Quality of life", Tia Maria sends us this story to put things into perspective:

The Wooden Bowl I guarantee you will remember the tale of the Wooden Bowl tomorrow, a week from now, a month from now, a year from now. A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and four-year-old grandson. The old man's hands trembled, his eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered The family ate together at the table. But the elderly grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth. The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. 'We must do something about father,' said the son. 'I've had enough of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.' So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There, Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was served in a wooden bowl. When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork or spilled food. The four-year-old watched it all in silence. One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, 'What are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded, 'Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I grow up. ' The four-year-old smiled and went back to work. The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless. Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word was spoken, both knew what must be done. That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his days he ate every meal with the family.... And for some reason, neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled..

Gift item of the day

your very own Darth Vader toaster

Shark Update

anyone lose a shark?

And then there is this variation: ">Sharks on a train.

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and check here for shark jokes

Bring out the Kareoke machines!

Yes we had a partial eclipse yesterday...but it was cloudy enough that the light only dimmed a bit, (not a full eclipse).

But of course some Pinoys used it as an excuse to party!

News below the fold

The US Air Force is now training moredrone Jocks than Fighter Jocks.

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Can't decide whether to play with your sushi or your trains?

now you can do both!

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TipNut lists some spice rack first aid remedies.
also kitchen beauty tips. More tips at this UK hairdresser site/

The "honey hair rinse" idea might draw ants however: stick to a beer rinse instead.
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The "Fat Police Strike again".
First they came for the smokers, and then they came for the "full figure gals".
Wonder what happened to Dr. King's dream, that we not be judged by the size of our bra but the strength of our character?

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Good news: Adult pluripotential stem cells are working to reverse heart attacks.
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Bad news: Twenty years ago, a study in the BMJ showed that 30percent of people diagnosed as being in a "vegetative state" were actully alert.
A more recent study shows that the percentage now is 41%...something that has huge health care implications because a lot of "neurologists" suggest you starve to death (or "remove unwanted medical treatment") from those in PVS, whereas you treat those with alertness with rehabilitation and TLC...

Insomnia download of the day

Librivox has another E.E."Doc" Smith sci fi novel for your sleeping pleasure: Triplanetary.

His novels are in the "Tarzan/Princess of Mars" or "Conan the barbarian" type genre...and I like the description on Librivox:

"Having earned a PhD in chemical engineering, it’s understandable that the heroes of Smith’s story are all scientists. He didn’t want to be constrained by the limits of known science, however, so in his hands the electromagnetic spectrum becomes a raw material to be molded into ever-more amazing and lethal forms, and the speed of light is no bar to traveling through the interstellar void.

Come enjoy this story of yesteryear, set in tomorrow, where real women ignite love at a glance, real men achieve in days what governments manage in decades, and aliens are an ever-present threat to Life-As-We-Know-It! (Summary by Mark F. Smith)

*

Family news

a poster for Robin's textile art

Partial Eclipse tomorrow

July 21 (Bloomberg) -- The longest full solar eclipse this century, lasting 6 minutes and 39 seconds in some areas, will plunge cities, including Shanghai, into darkness as it passes over India and China tomorrow.

We will only get a partial eclipse tomorrow morning.

the Griffith Observatory will be showing the eclipse on it's webcam, located on an island off the coast of China. LINK

Musical Interlude for today

Blue Planet:

Stuff below the fold

News24 has expose on organ trafficking in Manila...one Saudi even married the "donor" to get around the law...

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a photo album of Giant Namura jellyfish...awsome photos...
(via NotCot)

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Author Frank McCourt has died...the Free Library reposts a 1999 podcast about his book "Tis"....

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The "Buzz" behind the Apollo XI UFO...LINK
(Headsup SenseOfEventsBlog)

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Want to know what Fido is barking about?
Ask an infant...

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Gift item of the day

A Raymond Raving Rabbid battery charger

(headsup NotCot_)

The Eagle has landed

July 20 is the 40th anniversary of Apollo XI...and NASA is celebrating.




Remembering Apollo XI, the first men to walk on the surface of the moon.

Popular Mechanics has a series on the untold story HERE

and this is a new part of the story that I hadn't heard before: Buzz Aldrin took communion on the moon...but they kept the fact secret because of fear of lawsuits.

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More absurdity below the headlines.

When the media censors free speech, there is always TWITTER....
(headsup Instapundit)

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Not only did "doggie love is okay if it doesn't hurt the dog" Professor Peter Singer not know that N.I.C.E. will pay for Sutent in the UK , other blogs are noticing that that in Peter Singer's world, a handicapped person is worth only 3/5 of a "normal" person....
GetReligionBlog says the entire discussion reminds her of Monty Python, and posts this...


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The rates of STD's, including HIV, is almost epidemic in the Porn industry.
So who do the activists sue? LA County, of course.

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Despite a mild slump, the number of plastic surgery procedures is going up again."There were 12.1 million cosmetic procedures performed in 2008. That number reflects a 9% decline in surgical procedures but a 5% increase in minimally invasive procedures, such as Juvéderm."

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Honduran President Zelaya had the election in a bag (a computer bag that is)...
Authorities seized several computers used by former president Zelaya that contained "official" results of the constitutional referendum that was never held showing his bid to change the law so that he could run for office again winning easily.
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Don't visit Denver, because there is a new monster in town:
BoingBoing reports:Running toilet terrorizes kids.

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Black humor links for today

Yes, it's the 40th anniversary of a well known event that changed history;
ad is from National Lampoon...

Mary Jo and her family will be in my prayers today.

Stuff below the fold

Brian Sibley reports on the big celebration in Venice held to commemorate the end of the plague of 1575...he links to his photos too.

Actually, I preferred Florence to Venice, but haven't visited for 20 years

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Making Men Moral symposium has audio downloads...

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Lady Duff remembered.
She was more than a bigshot who commendered here own lifeboat.

family news

typhoon has passed...still thunderstorms.

Found a trojan horse on the work computer so have been scanning hard drives. Will try to catch up on blogging later

Photo of the day

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Gift item of the day

a Black Cat pin cushion.

at etsy

Musical Interlude for today

suggested by TiaMaria

Stuff below the fold

Some of Lord Carnarvon's original photos can be seen HERE
He was one of the ones who found King Tut's tomb.

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The mysterious megaliths of Sumatra...original story gone, but FR has the story.

More here about the Princess Slonga crying stone.
More at Brittanica

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Photos of China from the early 20th century link

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Mr Chips often joked in Latin or used Latin quotes to illustrate that present day problems are not new.
ADon'sLife blog has Latin quips for those of you who get frustrated on modern transportation.

1. "perfer et obdura! dolor hic tibi proderit olim" -- or "Be patient and put up with it; one day this pain will pay dividends". That's Ovid (Amores III, XIa) reflecting on the insults of his mistress -- but fits well enough for the rush hour commute.

More Protests in Iran

Link is to a report in the UKTimes.

Photos at RevRoadBlog

who has a bunch of videos too


A NYTimes blog notes:

The fact that more than 100 video clips documenting Friday’s events appeared online before the day was out illustrates that Iranian bloggers continue to play a key role in disseminating information about the still-simmering discontent over the official results of the June 12 presidential election.

And now,to make things worse, they are starting to get cases of Swine Flu
(and the possibility of spreading it/sick pilgrims might affect the upcoming Haj)

and to remind you that there is more to life than politics, TehranPhotoblog has pictures of the new water park in Tehran.

Headlines below the fold

Family note: Another day, another typhoon.
It's pouring rain out, but no high winds here (we live inland of course).

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Philippine news: Candidates sign a "No guns, goons or gold" covenant"...

As if a murderer who takes huge bribes and kickbacks would not lie about it...
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Why we must ration health care, according to deathmaker Singer in the New York Times.

Uh, those "couple months" are two years median until the cancer starts to grow again, but as this study notes: At the study's conclusion, the median overall survival time had not been reached...translation: at the end of the study, most of those responding were still alive and well...and newer drugs are on the horizon that might extend life another couple of years.

of course, such honesty is not helping Obama rush through his "health care bill"....

and there is this Orwellian note: The rationing board in the UK is N.I.C.E.
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Stuff from the past

History stuff links. Note the FRLINK may not be work friendly.

Illustration is Baby Cthulhu! How cute!
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Return to the Great Pyramid and How to build a pyramid
FRLINK
More here via the UKGuardian.

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Did The Medieval warm period enable the Inca empire to exist?

More on the Inca Empire HERE at PBS.
and HERE at NatGeo.

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Factoid for the day: Sex has been around for 380 million years...FRLINK
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and there is a mathematical calculation that explains why:
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News below the fold

Iranian plane crash. In our prayers.

and David Warren comments on the successful news blackout by the Iranian government and the LATimes says everyone is waiting to see what happens on Friday.
more HERE
and The New Yorker comments on the "news blackout".

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HistoryNet has the stories of the 10 greatest emergency landings

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Fatah's aim is to destroy Israel, but you only know it if you understand Arabic and watch their TV programs.
I was astonished to see one report about this on CNN today...

And AlQaeda has actually published their plan to take over the world...

and AlQaeda is partly behind the uprising in western China (which like the Moro uprising in the Philippines is partly tribal resentment of more successful outsiders, but is now aided by terrorist groups which are funded by religious zealots).

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Headlines below the fold

GatewayPundit has a picture of the health care plan HERE

discussion moved to BNN...so as not to bore you.

Your LOL cat of the day

moar funny pictures

Literature trivia

FYI: HNN has an article that links a Jamestown Shipwreck on Bermuda with the play The Tempest.

It's a deliberate conspiracy

Cat owners may have suspected as much, but it seems our feline friends have found a way to manipulate us humans.

Researchers at the University of Sussex have discovered that cats use a "soliciting purr" to overpower their owners and garner attention and food.

Unlike regular purring, this sound incorporates a "cry", with a similar frequency to a human baby's.

The team said cats have "tapped into" a human bias - producing a sound that humans find very difficult to ignore.

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Musical interlude for today

The movie "The Bishop's wife" was remade as "The Preacher's wife" a couple years ago.
I didn't enjoy it as much, maybe because Whitney Houston had an edge of bitterness in her character.
But the music was wonderful, so here's some gospel singing for today's musical interlude.

Stuff around the internet

I've been slow on blogging because I've been fighting a nasty cold (not the flu: I had that last week. Just a cold, no fever or achiness, just coughing and wheezing as usual).

So here's a few things I am catching up on around the blogs.
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Justice Bader didn't propose eugenics, she just spilled the beans : everyone back then knew that the Supreme court Justices decided to change the law so that poor women could abort their kids safely and legally. (The real problem is her comfort with judicial activism, not eugenics.)
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Father Z is gradually posting talking points on the Pope's new encyclical (I haven't been well enough to read it).
Here's one for the Philippines:
Corruption and illegality are unfortunately evident in the conduct of the economic and political class in rich countries, both old and new, as well as in poor ones. Among those who sometimes fail to respect the human rights of workers are large multinational companies as well as local producers. (22)

He also tells rich countries to cut their own energy consumption, and stop pushing anti life programs on poor countries.

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Epi-log links to various curiosities, including the world's grossest Ice Creams.

Actually, I like sweet corn Ice cream, but I'll take a pass at raw horse meat ice cream.

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and did you know old movies are found at You tube, posted in small five minute intervals?

Here's one gem: Loretta Young at her best:

Quote of the day

comes from "Spengler":

Writing in Newsweek July 9 Kathleen Kennedy Townsend argues that “Barack Obama represents American Catholic better than the pope does.” Of course, the pope is only the Bishop of Rome, whereas Obama is God.

Cyberwarfare

When Botnets Attack: North Korea is attacking South Korea's computers. but no one really wants to talk about it...

StrategyPage discusses cyberwarfare past and present HERE

Remember that top secret NSA program to snoop into your emails and phone calls that Nancy Pelosi forgot she was told about?
Well it's being expanded under the Messiah....
one new part of this snooping is called "Einstein", which will screen private emails/connections to government sites to see if you are trying to hack or harm the computers.

But if you think Chinese hackers, Russian criminals, and North Korean Botnets aren't bad enough, now there is news that genies are using cellphones to threaten people in Saudi Arabia.

Family news

Most of the staff is over the flu...I have an ordinary cold right now.

Lolo is fine.

Stuff below the fold

When Galaxies Collide

X-ray image courtesy NASA/CXC/CfA/E. O(Sullivan; optical image courtesy Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope/Coelum

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50 years of pantyhose

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Three ways to celebrate KrispyKreme's 72nd anniversary (the third anniversary in the Philippines)...

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watch out if you get a brain stimulator...you might get hacked.

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Good news for today The Italian hostage has been "released" by the Abus.

There is a claim no ransom was paid, but we know from experience the Italians are choice hostages because of that country's willingness to pay huge ransoms...and huge ransoms mean more bombs that will kill Pinoys.

Musical Interlude of the day

They were playing this on the car radio on the way home from Mass...which is appropriate since Little Richard was born again in the late 1950's...

Turn up speakers and try not to dance.

100 essential skills for Geeks

no, I can't do most of them.


That's what grandsons are for...

Craft Item of the day

From Instructables:

make your very own MiniMint Catapult.

AKA Altoid blaster.

Musical Interlude for today

Stuff below the fold

In the movie National Treasure, the Masonic symbol clues were given to the Gates family by the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence.

But Charles Carroll of Carrolton was Catholic and could not have been a Mason. Article on a new book about him HERE
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Did Global cooling doom the western Roman Empire?


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Well, it took awhile, but the world finally has noticed our Pig/Ebola-Reston virus problem.

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The "we're all gonna die" headline of the day:

Just 96 months to save world, says Prince Charles

Yup...all those uppity peasants who live comfortably are the problem. Go back to being poor, you peons...

Hopefully, they'll skip him and just let Prince Harry take over someday.

Your motivational poster of the week

The REAL graveyard of the Atlantic

no it's not the Bermuda triangle, but Sable Island, located 180km SE of NovaScotia, says StrangeMapBlog.
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the island is actually a large sand bar in an area wih frequent storms and fog...over 350 ships are known to have been destroyed by shipwreck on the island..

This is for cat lovers only

Did you know there is a website to ask for prayers for your sick cat?

Major Korean Cyberwar is going on

North Korea is attacking South Korean and US Government computers with a trojan horse.

Didn't Tom Clancy predict something like this?

and they ridiculed W for including North Korea as one of the "axis of evil"...

Local products for tradefairs

From tradefair cabanatuan july 4 2009

some of our products.

we sell organic rice, sponsor workshops for growing organic vegetables, and design and sell hand made capiz shell flowers and lamps.

Recipe of the Week

HuggingTheCoast has a bunch of Gourmet Grilled Cheese sandwiches for you to try.

and no I haven't eaten one since I moved here, although we can get processed cheese or Cheezewhiz here...no frying pan however, only woks...


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on the other hand, if you want a Filipino recipe, try Oxtail Adobo, at Patis andPate blog.

Lasagna take three

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Family news

We are well. The help is sick. Christina and Chano are sick...all of them probably have the flu. Thunderstorm so not too much computer time.

But there is good news: the white kittens are starting to walk around...almost stepped on them when I brought mom her food.

Protest with a Rose

Keep quiet under all circumstances, the circular advises those planning to march in Thursday's unauthorized demonstrations in Iran cities.

"The heaviest weapon to carry is one rose in the hand," it says.

discussion site here

Swine flu has arrived

I had a mild case of the flu last weekend (as did Lolo). Since the swine flu is the same one that was around in the late 1970's, we probably had it then and still have some immunity.



This link has a short video.
In the US they treat high risk people with anti virals, but these are expensive and only shorten and make the flu less severe. So here in the Philippines, they aren't being used except in the very sick.

Gift item of the day

For the one you love:

A HELLOKITTY Taser
(via HellokittyHell)

News below the fold

The Pope has issued an encyclical.
(word version download Here

The NYTimes summarizes
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Negotiate with Hamas? Michael Totten interviews Jeffrey Goldberg:

Goldberg: .... it’s very important – and you know this better than almost anyone – to go over there yourself and tape it, get it down on paper, and say “this is what they actually say.”
... But (I) take them at their word. I believe Hamas when it says it wants to eradicate Israel. Why shouldn’t I believe them?

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Two million refugees from the Swat valley may go home soon.
They need aid but donors know most of the aid money will end up in the bank accounts of local politicians.

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Swine flu cases up to 90,000...

Rice Paddy Art

Pink TentacleBlog has even more photos of rice paddy art. He writes:

As summer progresses, crops of rice paddy art are beginning to emerge in Japan. The crop art — created by strategically arranging and growing different colors of rice plants — can be seen in farming communities across the country.

Many of the photos are also HERE

Stuff below the fold

correcting cliches: HNN Blog points out that the seige of Vienna included Protestants and other Christians fighting on the side of the Ottoman army.
And a lot of folks back then thought that the Ottoman was a good foil to keep the Austrian empire in it's place.

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GetReligionBlog discusses "The Voice" of the Iranian revolution: some photos show her wearing a cross...


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Michael Yon has a long article on the Philippines war in the south.

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Will Inspector Generals in the US now be political appointments?

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Did Joe Biden essentially Okay an Israeli take out of Iranian bomb making sites? And it sounds like the Saudis were okay with the deal, at least until a UK newspaper spilled the beans.

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Audiobook download of the day

Librivox has for download a selection of short stories for the young at heart.

It includes such classics as: The Cat that Walked by Himself by Kipling, The Gift of the Magi by OHenry, and Pigs is Pigs, by Butler.

This is not an insomnia download because the stories might keep you awake...

Another day, another volcano

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Good News for today

Coffee could be the next treatment for Alzheimers....
Dr Gary Arendash, an American neuroscientist, claims to have uncovered evidence that caffeine not only helps to stave off the disease but can treat it.

A key aspect of Alzheimer's is sticky clumps of an abnormal protein in the brain called beta amyloid plaques.
Mice with a rodent equivalent of the disease showed a 50 per cent reduction in levels of amyloid protein in their brains after the scientists added caffeine to their drinking water.


Here in the Philippines, they often promote coffee for it's health benefits.

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moar funny pictures

Musical interlude for today

I hope this is good news

the clerics in Qom are backing the people.