For LOL cat fans:

you now have ROLCats

---------------------------------
AND THE REAL CAT NEWS OF THE DAY:

MAMA CAT HAD FIVE KITTENS DURING THE NIGHT

Richard Proulx RIP

RecoveringChoirDirector reports that Chicago choral conductor/composer Richard Proulx has died.
2007 Video:


in a related item:
HiFiHymbook.com has mp3's of favorite old fashioned hymns for your listening pleasure.

Sunday links

Evidence of Afterlife?
Article on Spiritdaily, and another at Medscape (reg req)...

author was on C2C awhile back and discussed the findings, as was conservative political writer Dinesh D'Souza who has a similar book coming out.

-----------------------
Huge earthquake in Chile...tsunami warning for parts of the Philippines...
We are inland, so not in danger.

-----------------------
Instapundit links to video of first sushi made in space.

---------------------
Stuck inside from the snow? About.Com has recipes to make hot chocolate.

-----------------------
BBC Magazine's factoids of the week.
Elephant growls, Piconewtons and Laura Croft...

--------------
and finally:
what the world really needs: Bullet Proof Bosoms...

Congratulations Alice

Cat item of the day

POLYANNA MOMENTS.

The news and political turmoil is so bad, we need a "Polyanna" moment.

Temple Grandin, who was once diagnosed as autistic, points out that everyone has a place in the world.

and if you want to know where the saying "Polyanna" comes from, Youtube has the Disney film of the novel on line:

Bad News of the day

Paranoia paranoia

Why are you trying to stop the Coast Guard from guarding the coasts? ,why P*** off the Japanese (and the news on the Japanese news on our cable here is really steamed about the big deal being made about " 38 complaints...between 2007 and 2009"?...and tell the State Department to stop p*****g off people of faith, be they Pinoys, Africans, or Muslim....Horror story in Philly...yet even this article doesn't note that it is black women he was harming...

as to the gas pedal sticking: I've had this happen twice: Both were rental cars in Oklahoma, ten years apart. I have no idea what car was involved...
You simply downshift to first or neutral and pull over to the side of the road.

Stuff below the fold

Farsari's photos of 19th century Japan...

The arrangements of the photos remind one of Kurosawa's tableau's, diffused with stillness and dignity.

Image Credit

-------------------

The writing on the cave wall...



the question is why....

Image: Dozier Marc/Photolibrary

(headsup Archeoblog).
-----------------
National Treasure used Trinity church for it's conspiracy theories, but the real gem is St. Paul's chapel...
----------------------------


Gateway pundit and the Washington Times are discussing (tongue firmly in cheek) the new "Missile Defense Agency" logo ---->


Which strangely looks like a mix of the Obama symbol and the Islamic crescent and star-->




Let's have a poll:
Is the New MDA logo:

1) A symbol of President Obama’s greatness

2) the Islamification of our space industry

or

3) a diagram of how to find the G Spot?

longer take at BNN...

Words of Wisdom for today

In April, Maya Angelou was interviewed by Oprah on her 70+ birthday. Oprah asked her what she thought of growing older. And, there on television, she said it was 'exciting...'


Regarding body changes, she said there were many, occurring every day......like her breasts. They seem to be in a race to see which will reach her waist, first.

The audience laughed so hard they cried. She is such a simple and honest woman, with so much wisdom in her words!

Maya Angelou said this:
'I've learned that no matter what happens, or 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 these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.'

'I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you'll miss them when they're gone from your life.'

'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 need to be able to throw some things back....'

'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 a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.'

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

'I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.'

your email of the day from TiaMaria

The World's largest pipe organ...

is located in Lady's wear.



When I was in medical school, the store was Wanamaker's...more HERE.
And the organ has been there since 1911...

Stuff below the fold

Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offence.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down.'...
-Robert Frost.

HeritageKey lists the top 10 Roman walls in the UK

Hadrian's wall is the most famous of course, but check out the Arch and Colchester's original city wall....

-----------------

Home Sanctuary is running a series on how to organize your housework.

As a doc, I usually recommended my patients to start with a half hour putting things into perspective by reading a wise book, and then thinking about the lessons.

----------------------------

Physiology article of the day: The science of Hula hooping.
-------------------------

One of my podcasts pointed out that the ancient Egyptians had an alphabet but used hieroglyphs with it, because they respected the past and never discarded anything.

Well, the modern equivalent is Chinese and Japanese, and the thousands of ancient fonts can be found HERE.
and check out LINK for translation by machine.

-----------------------

The Lost city of Z and an explorer who disappeared...

--------------------

follow the money bad news of the day

Warlords and private armies in the Philippines.
intimidate voters, so you win and can steal money to pay your army to intimidate voters...

---------------------
Taliban using "human shields" so they can manipulate the media with "civilian deaths"....and lots of fake "bodies" are being claimed to get the compensation money.

--------------------
the health care bill "compromise" will pay for and promote abortion....
a "bipartisan fiscal commission" is looking for ways to cut benefits to the old and disabled....
NotDeadYet notes that a pro death "disability organization" is an astroturf group funded by a pro death lobby...

Insomnia download for today

Librivox short story collection includes:
Pigs Is Pigs by Ellis Parker Butler – 00:22:31
Source: E-text
[mp3@64kbps - 10.8MB]
The Lady or the Tiger by Frank R. Stockton – 00:19:09
Source: E-text
[mp3@64kbps - 9.1MB]
The Lady or the Tiger by Frank R. Stockton – 00:19:09
Source: E-text
[mp3@64kbps - 9.1MB]
-------------
Or you can download the Voyage of the Beagle (in honor of Darwin's year).
Clarance Day's satire This Simian World is also on line.

and if you are really really needing to fall asleep, there's always Dostoevsky....

How to wear Scottish dress

Video of wearing the full Scots kilt costume HERE.

and a discussion of the history of the kilt HERE

Musical interlude of the day

The classic song about kilts, from the Irish Rovers.



turn up speakers and enjoy!

Don't go drinking with Hobbits

fromMark Gunn: last verse:

I don't think I'll ever recover
From the food, the drink and the cheer.
Now I swear I'll never drink with hobbits again
At least, not till I see them next year.


mp3 download at this link

and for those of you really into Scots celtic stuff: Instructions on how to wear a kilt.

Andrew MacGregor’s Tips for New Kilt Wearers…

New to wearing a kilt? Start watching women in short skirts (-well more than you already do…) to study how they move while sitting down to avoid exposing themselves. You can learn some tips by following their example. That sweep of the hands underneath you as you sit can not only prevent embarrassment, but protect you from surprises like cold/hot surfaces not to mention splinters.

Happy Washington's Birthday

heh. If it wasn't for HBO, few people would know any history at all...
alas, here either they don't show these series or they are on in the middle of the night...

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

Methane "time bomb":
if the arctic tundra ice melts, it will release methane, a greenhouse gas that could accelerate global warming.

Video of methane emission from melting arctic lake:



of course, here in Asia, it is rice farming that causes a huge release in methane.

One scientist in the Philippines suggests that rice/duck farming could help in that problem:
"...ducks effectively suppressed methane emission from rice paddies because of the ducks constant paddling..."

And then there is this good news:
ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2008) — Acid rain from atmospheric pollution can reduce methane emissions from rice paddies by up to 24 per cent according to research led by Dr Vincent Gauci of The Open University. This is potentially a beneficial side effect of the high pollution levels China

Stuff below the fold

Armoured golfcarts....

--------------------------

Eurocrats save the world...they even have their own comic book to prove it.

--------------

Cheese is going extinct...
blame it on cleanliness...
-------------------

Family News

No rain, so it's quite hot during the day (and the internet goes off and on).

At night however it is cool.

I made sure Ruby got her booster shots a few weeks ago, because measles had broken out in the visayas. Now it is expected to spread...

Mr Bean take three

he has his own youtube channel...seems to be mainly the cartoons.
But Bean the ultimate disaster movie is at Youtube in 12 parts:

Craft item of the day

A Mr. Bean paper craft.

LINK LINK2
with Teddy...of course.

Check HERE for more

Diabetic Dolphins

Dolphins that can turn insulin resistence off and on might hold clues to human type II diabetes.

bookmarked for later reading.

--------------------
Scientific puzzles part one and part two.
hmm...96 percent of the universe is missing...
and where the heck did Lithium come from?
--------------
And the "don't be so paranoid" story of the day: Big Brother takes over the internet and news on line.
via Instapundit.

------------

Gift item of the day

Buy it for someone you love:

Your very own Mr.Bean action figure, complete with Teddy...


(headsup DRB)

Stuff below the fold

500 year old Pancake race tradition in the UK is in danger of being destroyed by nanny state:
runners aren't allowed to run (too dangerous) and gender diversity cops are intruding too.

---------------------
However, the locals have managed to stave off the renaming of Ticklecock bridge, so there is hope for that beleagured nation.
Other risque place names that you might find in the UK:LINK

-----------------------
Father Z links to a "Lenten Carbon fast" calendar
Yes, it's a push by the Religious left...and I ridiculed it HERE.

-------------------------------
Tutu's in the News:
Tutu's DNA could point to medical cures
more about Tutu's DNA compared to that of !Gubi.

--------------------------
Headline in the NYTimes Fashion section:
The Big New Idea Is Modesty

Lark Rise to Candleford

One of the books I brought with me to the Philippines is the delicate "LarkRise to Candleford".
It is now a TV show, and one of these days I'll get around to downloading it from Youtube...

But UncleOrson points out that Flora Thompson has a webpage HERE.

and here is a snippet from Youtube:

Family news

Real bad news: First the floods ruined the main rice season, and now we are worrying that we'll run out of water for the second rice season.
Yes, we use a pump, but if the ground water falls too far it goes dry.
So far we're okay
---------------------------

Is it just me

or did the US Treasury's new penney design rip off the logo for Union Pacific Railroad?
headsup BoingBoing

Musical interlude of the day

Philippine notes

in Pampanga, the one with the most votes, Lapid, didn't win the election but even though he won the court ordered recount, he was eliminated because he didn't sue.

The recount conducted by the Comelec second division showed that Pineda received 190,729 votes, Panlilio 188,718 and Lapid, 210,875 votes.

Problem Two: how to count the votes:

In its tabulation in 5,606 (98.85 percent) of 5,671 precincts, Namfrel said those who actually voted totaled 762,448. The Comelec count of actual voters, however, was 779,100.

part of the argument was over whether to count the votes for "NanayBaby" (counted) but not those with "Among" or "Ed" (ignored)...

there is a "jueteng" angle...more HERE.

and you thought hanging chads caused problems....

Craft item of the day

plushy apples

Pattern at Etsy

or buy it already made.

Stuff below the fold

From the BBC: Pakistan's indigneous African community:
the Sheedi are believed to be descenced from sailors who arrived there 200 years ago......more HERE...and HERE
---------------------
and has the Lemba tribe's ark of the covenant been found?The Lemba people claim to be part of the Jewish diaspora...many went to Ethiopia, but others traveled southward.

And DNA studies confirm a Semetic link.

-----------------------------
BlackFive links to videos about Team Rubicon...
a private aid group in Haiti...
-------

the Philippine medical team has arrived home from Haiti too.

------------------
Feng Shui for the home office...
actually, I am in my pajamas on the bed, since the dog is sleeping in my blogging easychair.
--------------

How to ice skate.
And yes, we do have ice skating rinks here in the Philippines...


No Filipinos winning in the winter Olympics, but some children of the diaspora are causing local pride:
a FilAm speed skater, J.R. Celski,won a bronze medal this week, and another Filipina American , Amanda Evora,competed but without winning under the US flag..
---------------------------
and finally, the science headline of the day:

Mosquito Nose Transplants Help Fight Malaria

Lenten stuff

Via Epilog:
here are dozens of delicious seafood and vegetarian recipes.

-----------------------------------
Via AtlasObscura:
AveMaria Grotto...in Alabama....

----------------
It's not my thing, but some Jesuits are blogging the Ignatian approach to spirituality HERE.

Or if you prefer, try Pray as you Go.

More traditional prayers (mostly psalms) at the Divine Office website, which has mp3's

Universalis, has the daily prayers on line, but uses the Jerusalem bible translation...including downloads for your palmpocket (for a fee) and Kindle.

Peter Jackson interview

headsup TORN

Geek news of the week

Forget Barbie Computer engineer (whose costume looks more like she is surfing for dates).


the real ladygeek role model is a goth:


photolink and discussion.

Honey, we missed Ash Wednesday

heh. I didn't even realize yesterday was Ash Wednesday until 3 pm when I said my daily prayers...so we missed getting ashes at the 7 am mass. (yes, they gave them out at the 5 pm mass, but it was too hot to go to church).

Oh well.

The Anchoress has a long post with inspiring things for all of us who are lax in our spiritual life.

Philippine news below the fold

Did the DDT ban kill more people than PolPot?
probably, but blaming all 60 million malaria deaths claimed by this essay is probably exaggerated partly because the countries lack the infrastructure to implement a mosquito control project.

For example, this Uganda story notes the increase in dogbites... (will write about how this is done at BNN after breakfast).

--------------
Ralph Peters on that Taliban biggie caught in Pakistan.

When you read about communist or muslim "insurgents", you have to remember that the PC story believed by the left in the US and Europe, of the noble people's defenders or the Alqaeda story of religious purity is crap. Think Capone vs Bugsy Malone, with all the politicians on the take.

-------------------------
Foreigners now getting involved in the "Morong 43"are church groups (WCC, Methodists) who traditionally back communists, so this probably doesn't help their case with the cynical.

Despite it being an election year, there is little outcry, except to say it needs to be looked into.
GMA gives the gov't side:

He said the arrest of the 43 health workers – dubbed as the Morong 43 - was “a product of a thorough and deliberate planning, extensive intelligence work and accurate surveillance."
Burgos said those arrested were part “a super body of NPA medics and combatants from various provinces."

Tiny protest HERE.
Malaya says that the AFP raided the wrong house, and that the weapons were not seized with a proper search warrant, and
"In this theater of the absurd, the military might as well trot out that soldier who displayed to media men a set of acupuncture needles seized from one of the 43.
Here, said the soldier in all seriousness, is the incontrovertible proof that those arrested are communists."

on the other hand, when I was in Africa, treating "rebels" and their families without reporting it can get you in trouble with the government...

--------------
Villar is spending a bundle on ads...all over the place.

any questions?
---------------
PhilCommentary discusses Dacer murder...
or maybe not: Was the "body" actually cattle remains?

-----------------
another hit in town...sigh.
-------------

We've had an increase in beggars, and with the drought due to ElNino, it is expected to get worse.
This is on top of the crop damage from the 2 typhoons last year that hit at harvest time...
That is why Lolo told Chano to stop building his new house on the farm, until we get some more money.

Musical Interlude of the day

You've heard of ChickenSoup for the soul...well, here is some Classical Chickens.

YUM! Quark Soup

Brookhaven National lab "produced temperatures of 4 trillion degrees Celsius, 250,000 times hotter than the Sun's interior,,,(producing) a stunning "soup" of quarks and gluons. The analyzed data indicates that record high temperature caused the protons and neutrons of the gold atoms to "melt" into the quarks and gluons that compose them, which then formed a plasma, known as quark gluon plasma (QGP). This appears to be the first time man has been able to make such a quark soup."

Bad news stories of the day

Roger L Simon comments on this story...

AlJazeerah's editorial here. Summary: Just because we hate the West and Israel doesn't mean we have to love the atrocities in Iran.

Sigh. Sounds like war is coming, despite hope and change...but at least they have no excuse, since President Obama did his best to make peace with them.

-------------------------
This story isn't good either.
Someone needs to tell China if the US goes broke, their own unemployment problem will skyrocket...

-------------------
And then there is this.
Thank God for UN Peacekeepers.

In a related story: A Colombian NGO discovers that some locals are eating cuy (instead of monkey meat). BNN essay here.

-------------------------------
Good news or bad news?
Obama approves of new nuclear plants.

------------------

But there is some good news: Curves are back
And Lolo approves.

The Cat in the Can

Staff at an animal rescue centre in Fife were amazed when a lost cat found its way there - despite having its head stuck in a food can....

Mark your calenders

From BoingBoing:

March 24th is Ada Lovelace Day.

All you have to do is pledge to post on your blog something about a woman in science or in technology on that day.

Heck, as a doc (when only 6% of women were doctors), I figure I do that every day.

Ah, but who is Ada Lovelace, you ask?

She was the mother of the computer,
From Wikipedia:
Augusta Ada Byron, was an English writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine. Her notes on the engine include what is recognized as the first algorithm intended to be processed by a machine; as such she is often regarded as the world's first computer programmer.

The Known Universe

HeadsupDarkRoastedBlend.

O-kay?

Dax Montana
via Dustbury.

Family News

House cleaning today. Lolo is fine.

Gift Item of the day

The ultimate coffee management system!

.

.

Family news

Chano came home from the farm Sunday and we held a birthday party for him.

---------------------

Chano and Joy went to Manila to try to sue the tenant in our apartment...all the rent payment checkes bounced, and to make it worse, she refuses to get out even though her contract expired two months ago. 

-------------------------

We got the vets here to vaccinate all our dogs, including one from the farm who bit someone...we've had to pay for two dogbites (one at the farm, and one of the small white dogs bit Joy's masseuse), and anti rabies shots are expensive. (There is a lot of rabies in the wild street dogs, so if your rabies shots are out of date, usually the hospital recommends you get the series).

So all nine dogs got their shots, and we used the muzzles on the watchdogs...but Lolo got bitten by old Papadog while holding him. Luckily not deep and he's okay.

----------------------

No rain, clear skies here: Hot during the day and cool at night. 

Rolling blackouts are due to start any time now...the large generator is at the farm, but I have my small one here ...it is enough for fans.

Stuff below the fold

Big scandal here about 41 health workers arrested by the military, who claim they were actually communists learning to make bombs.

Uh, it should be easy to check, since health workers have licenses...human rights folks say the "bomb making" equipment was planted by the military, and that those admitting to be communist were tortured.

----------------------------------------
Did Wall Street help Greece hide their debts?

--------------------------------
NYTimes discovers the film "The Blind Side" and notices that "The film’s makers had created a deeply earnest picture aimed less at tastemakers than at people in the middle: sports fans, families, churchgoers and do-gooders."

------------------------
Laser knocks down missile in test.

InFromTheCold explains it's part of a multi layered approach to missile defense.

-------------------
Hackers, disgruntled employees, and whistleblowers are digging out information on those secret Swiss Bank Accounts.

-----------------------
Will you be my Nano Valentine?

Good news story of the day

OFW's kids in Saudi raise money for others:

GMA reports: The 65-member group, Serenata Children's Choir and String Chamber Orchestra, has 45 members aged eight to 16 who are children of overseas Filipino workers in the Kingdom. The children are also students of different Philippine schools in Jeddah.

This is the second time that the choral group is sponsoring students from the Philippines through the concert’s proceeds, which this year amounted to US$10,000, or over P460,000.

from a 2006 concert:

Guide to American culture

along with cultural information for US military serving overseas, there is a webpage for foreign students studying with the US military (e.g. when I lived in New Mexico, we had German Luftwaffe stationed nearby...the local cable TV even had a German station available).

Major Cultural Elements

Freedom - The cornerstone of American Culture. The Constitution of the United States of America
ensures that the people retain certain rights and freedoms. It limits the influence the Government has on the
personal lives of the Citizens. Americans who respect the rights of other Citizens are free to work, play, worship,
travel, and live as they please.

heh...maybe someone needs to send a copy to the WhiteHouse....

Haitian language support

Earlier, I posted a link for AMEDD materials to help workers in Haiti (includes mp3's).

Today's link is with Hesperian Foundation, who has materials in Spanish, English and Creole on line or to buy (actual books) to help health care workers.

Oh, they take donations.

please feed the Koi

Musical Interlude of the day

from the musical Cats...

Craft item of the day

Colette Patterns has the link:

Download the Madeleine Mini Bloomers pattern!

(via SweetSassafras)

alas, if I wore them, I'd still look like a beached whale. Sigh.

Tiger's Valentines day

Today is Chinese new year, the year of the tiger.

And of course it is valentine's day.

but don't forget: IT's also the big weekend of the Pampanga Clark Hot Air Festival.

more HERE.
No we won't go, alas.

And if you eat too much HelloKitty Chocolate

just remember to get HelloKitty design on your false teeth.

Stuff below the fold

49 states with snow?
Now you see why I retired to the Philippines.
None here, except for that snow machine in Baguio...

----------------------
Is your blog an "R-word" Free zone? asks SenseOfEventBlog...check HERE.

Answer: No, because I worked for six years with the retarded, AKA mentally challenged, and sometimes write about that.
--------------------------------
A "counterculture" biography versus the reality

-----------------------------

Factoid for today: There are over a quarter million female combat veterans in the US.
---------------------------

Attention Shoppers: Tofu worse than meat?
(headsup Secondhandsmoke)
----------------------------
and health tip of the week:

Eating a bar of chocolate a week lowers your risk for stroke.

especially if it is a HelloKitty Chocolate bar.

Enjoy the ice and snow

Alice and friends practicing their skating.

Amigurumi Love Birds

LionBrand (free registration required) has a pattern to crochet these lovely Lovebirds.

Medical Advice for the day

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Encino Man!

Fox news reports:

As scientists come closer to completing a draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome, creating a living person from an ancient DNA sequence is becoming a real possibility, according to Archaeology Magazine.

Scientists announced Wednesday that they have pieced together most of the DNA of a man who lived in Greenland about 4,000 years ago, a pioneering feat that revealed hints about his appearance and even an increased risk of baldness.

Heh. He'd probably fit right in:

headsup Via Archaeoblog:
longer article HERE>

Podcast of the week

Celtic Music podcast is like listening to a show with your favorite music and hints for new cd's to buy.

I used to listen to it all the time, but lost the link when my computer died, so I'm glad I found it again.

they also recommendthe Celtic MP3s Music Magazine
"...This monthly newsletter will link you to artists offering Celtic music downloads. It's free to subscribe at www.celticmp3s.com."

Craft Item of the day

Stuck inside from the snowstorm?

Well, try making snowflakes.

That should keep the kids busy.

and after you make them, join them together to decorate your windows.

DesignSponge has a tutorial by cursivedesign for making snowflake panels to decorate your hom

Because not everything is politics

Here is Ian of Lonely planet visiting Iran:

Stuff below the fold

the BBC Reports:

You couldn't get much less of a romantic setting for an historic monument. It's in a kerbside cage, stuck on the wall of a sports shop in Cannon Street due for demolition.

The London Stone might fall to urban renewal: Part one...part two.
it was brought to the city by Brutus the Trojan, the legendary founder of London. 'So long as the Stone of Brutus is safe, so London will flourish," says a centuries-old proverb. Thus the London Stone's removal, like the Tower of London's ravens, is said to forebode the city's destruction...

===============

Backpack bombers? Fact or fiction, or just another slip of the tongue from good old Joe? InTheCold wonders....

----------------------
Brian Sibley reports he liked the Princess and the Frog,

but warns:
Both the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Association of Reptilian and Amphibian Veterinarians (I didn't know reptiles and amphibians could become vets!) issued statements warning parents of the dangers of allowing children to handle and kiss frogs.

(you might get Salmonella)
-------------------
some really sick news of the day:

One third of anti malarial drugs sold in the third world are substandard.
There is a special place in hell for those who make and distribute counterfeit drugs.

Live blogging at Planet Iran

Planet Iran is planning to live blog the expected demonstrations today.

It has been reported that gmail is down as is much of the internet from there.

more hERE

Gift item of the day

buy a power pack dog leash

Gizmodo says:

Fido Fashion really thought this leash through. There's a little compartment for poop bags on the device. But the key feature is that power is generated as your pup runs off forcing the leash to coil and uncoil. All that energy is then used to light up a built in LED.

Compare and contrast

Zombie does a cost analysis of different styles of speech making:






(headsupGatewayPundit)

Educational item of the day

a Geology colouring book.

Dr. Who Sign of the day

via Dustbury:
(From Mostly Forbidden Zone via Miss Cellania.)

Headlines below the fold

Dead stowaway in a jet wheel-well is not an unknown tragedy, but this one managed to sneak on at a major US airport...
leading to questions about security there.

--------------------------
Where did all the hopes for Obama go?
The American people were sold an illusion, not reality.
That's why the word is "dis-illusioned".
One doubts a Hillary, who had faced 12 years of criticism and scrutiny, would be facing these problems...

And NPR discovers THE BILLBOARD.

=========
An activist who questioned shoddy school construction that led to many of the deaths in the 2oo8 Chinese earthquake has been sent to jail.
and some of that tainted milk has been "recycled" into the market.

------------------
Amir Sadghi has been arrested, reports Tehran24...

Iranian security forces arrested one of our Photographers, “Amir Sadeghi” at the office of Farhang-e-Ashti newspaper in tehran.
The number of journalists arrested in Iran has reached to 55 persons.
NYTimes story HERE.
the ranks of those imprisoned now include artists, photographers, children’s rights advocates, women’s rights activists, students and scores of journalists. Iran now has more journalists in prison than any other country in the world

-------------------------
It's Carnival time again...no not as in Mardi Gras, but in election time in the Philippines...
----------------------------------
and watch out for Ping in a Wig...
But why is Archbishop Cruz defending him?
Cruz is a traditional leftist who stands for the people's rights against the big shots...place conspiracy theory here.


--------------------------
1.5 million bat colony is located...under an Austin city bridge...

Stuff around the net

History links on the internet

and Chili recipe links.
No, we don't eat chili here: beans and beef are both rare in Pinoy Cuisine....but we do use chili hot sauce on our Siomai...recipe here.

both links via TeaAtTrianon.

----------------
Father Z is visiting Philly and needs the answer to a deeply controversial theological question:
Where are the best cheesesteaks, Geno's or Pat's?

Pat's recipe is HERE. alternative recipe HERE.
and hint: You cover the stuff with melted cheese whiz.

Did you know we have Cheese Whiz here? But alas no decent beef, let alone the paper thin sliced steaks that make the best cheesesteak.
-----------------------------------

Green police commercial from the superbowl:

no, we didn't watch the superbowl, and there aren't a lot of Audis in the Philippines...but we do have to get emissions checks on our cars.

---------------------
I fail to see why giving a speech from cards--a technique I learned in Speech class in college-- is now another reason to ridicule Sarah Palin.

None of her critics note that this way of giving a speech requires you to know what you are discussing, and of course it allows them to ridicule her without reporting what she actually said, or why they disagree with her.

Her speech however is on CSPAN's youtube.


The good news: Peppy talk. The bad news: superficial.
She should stay at Fox and let Hillary run the country.
-----------------

Science stuff below the fold

Drinking beer or ale lowers your chance of osteoporosis...

Scientists claim it's the silicon in beer but this ad suggests it's the Vitamin D.

_________________

A solar storm not only might wreck our banking and power systems, but with all the ebooks around, it might wipe out human knowledge too...

Back to clay tablets?
-----------------------

Is earth a giant hologram?
-----------------------

Forget Yellowstone:
what about the Laacher See?
Between Cologne and Bonn, the volcano last exploded 12,900 years ago, with a bang similar to Mt Pinatubo....
----------------

and then there are the mud volcanoes of Central Asia...
from wikipedia:

Mud volcanoes are often associated with petroleumsubduction zones and orogenic belts; hydrocarbon gases are often erupted. They are also often associated with lava volcanoes; in the case of such close proximity, mud volcanoes emit incombustible gases including helium, whereas lone mud volcanoes are more likely to emit methane.

there is a question if oil drilling set off a deadly eruption of a mud volcano in Java a couple years ago.

------------------------------------
Technical discussion of Haiti earthquake HERE.

--------------------
and the really important scientific report of the week:

Sexxx in space....(or maybe not)

Gift item of the day

the TenTenDama ball:


headsup RandomGoodStuff

Miracle of Marcelino

The classic Spanish Children's film is now on youtube.(English subtitles)

In the Philippines, it was made into a series called "May Bukas Pa".

War Stuff below the fold

Some bloggers were questioning why the planned attack against an Afghan city was getting so much publicity.

StrategyPage explains it's the "Fallujah" Scenerio: Tell everyone to get out, and only the bad guys are left behind for you to fight.
--------------------------------
"concerned" anthropologists lament that some of them might volunteer to help NATO troops understand Afghan culture, saying it is “an unacceptable application of anthropological expertise.” to help " counterinsurgency operations"...
Yeah, they wouldn't want to stop stuff like THIS...or THIS...or THIS...
--------------

One problem when prosecuting genocide: Coaching witnesses.
How do they know the witnesses are "fake"? The SOB has found witnesses to claim the witnesses weren't child soldiers, or they weren't children or they weren't soldiers

How bad is the problem of child soldiers...
In 2008, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reported that some 30,000 had been reintegrated back into society.

-----------------------

A Twitter from the head Brown Joey

Lots of people twittering these days, but did you know Mary MacKillop has a twitter account?

Yes, the bossy nun who managed to get herself excommunicated at one point in her life, has not come back from the grave, but has another Sister twittering on her behalf, using quotes from her letters, since after all, she did die almost a hundred years ago.

Her sisters are affectionately known as the "Brown Joeys", because of their brown habits, by the irreverent Aussies.



Actually, it's her foundations that does the work for her, since she is both dead and up for sainthood (the first Aussie Saint).

Musical interlude of the day

Stuff around the net

Pet of the day: A DINO-PECKER.


----------------------

Sister MaryMartha discusses the patron saints of various pets and mentions that Blessed Kateri is the patron saint of turtles.
No, she didn't keep them as pets, she was a member of the Turtle clan...
The Kateri Shrine at the "Osage Cathedral" is HERE.
------------------------

The Freepers link to a study that insists that a flushing reaction to alcohol that is commonly seen in Asia is due to eating rice.
But since we saw that reaction in Native Americans, who left Asia before rice was planted, I am not so sure I agree.
------------------

Abufares happily reports it's snowing in Syria...video at link.

--------------------
WTF headline of the day:

Vampire Squid Turns "Inside Out"
again, video at link

--------------------
GlobalGal has photos of Qufu, the hometown of Confucius...
headsup EyeOnAsia