Robin

Robin and cousin in Chicago

National Heroes Day

Sunday was National Heroes Day here in the Philippines.

On this occasion every Filipino commemorates the "Cry of Pugad Lawin" which marks the beginning for the fight for independence from Spain by revolutionaries led by Andres BonifacioAndres Bonifacio.

But it includes a "Thank you" for every Filipino who worked to make his or her country better.

Although it is not necessarily a celebration of our FilAm World War II vets, I thought that this was a nice video reminding young folks that they live free because of our heroes.



Note: my husband Lolo is a veteran of World War II...

Stuff below the fold

A call to protest on Quds Day:

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TeaAtTrianon discusses "Los Patricios", the Irish deserters who joined with the Mexicans to stop America from stealing their land.



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Sister Mary Martha discusses the Devil..

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More on the Maya from USAToday: the question on why they abandoned their cities remains unsolved...

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The ProtestantWork Ethic is spreading in China...
here in the Philippines, a committed Protestant is a better employee, because he is less likely to steal. Catholics figure they are part of the family, and they need something, so they're sure you won't mind if they borrow it...

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Heh. Why Catholics don't understand economics...

Because they are still stuck in the Middle Ages, before Calvin made it okay to be honest and get rich?

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Forget the fake statistics: StrategyPage has the real details on Iraqi Deaths:

About 100,000 Iraqi civilians died, but over a third of these were members of terrorist groups (mostly Sunni, including al Qaeda). Another ten percent were members of various anti-terrorist militias.... Most of the civilians were killed by terrorists, most of the terrorist deaths were caused by American troops.

So yes, a terrible war...but not as bad as earlier reports, such as the Lancet which exaggerated problems due to sampling errors, and included crime and deaths from degraded infrastructure.


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The really important news of the day

From Dustbury: Best Historical marker ever:

And second best historical marker:

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And the "there's a monster in my cupcake" post of the day:
see more EpiCute

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and finally, from Dave Barry, a robot we all can use:

Why I hate politics rants of the day

The press, who never blinked when Obama claimed to be a miracle worker ("This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.") is telling us that the rally in Washington last weekend was full of bigoted white people;
the blogosphere says nah, just ordinary folks...
and points out the "fake teaparty" Democrat being paraded to blacken their name...

GetReligion blog echoes my questions about what the rally was about, and about the press coverage, or lack therein...

Well, here's "Reason" TV's report...we link, you decide:

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I have no opinion, being a "blue dog" Clinton Democrat and living overseas, but it all reminds me of Jimmy Carter and his inability to lead America (but then I was overseas during Carter too.)
Ironically, the foreign press disdained Carter back then, but absolutely hated Reagan, who they insisted would start World War III...on the other hand, even the Communists preferred Reagan, because they knew exactly where they stood with him; Carter, on the other hand, kept confusing them by changing his mind and being obscure...

Look at the US Hostage crisis in Iran....Carter was wishy washy and then tried a belated and poorly planned rescue, that luckily crashed and didn't start a war. Reagan merely scared the bloomers off the Mullahs so they released the hostages on Inauguration day.

Hopefully, either Hillary or Sarah will be the next president: Both of them are scary enough to stop a war with one glance ("make my day"...)

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Here in the Philippines, lots of blowback from the botched hostage crisis.

China has their knickers in a knot about it...demonstrating against the Philippines, and the country is worrying that they will take it out on our OFW's there (mostly maids and service workers).

Just once, I'd like the perpetrator be blamed for such massacres, not the victims or those risking their lives to stop it.

The Abilene Paradox

Years ago, I used to go to business lectures at George Washington University, just for the heck of it, and we heard this speaker give a great talk.

A family is hungry, so someone says: Let's drive to Abilene and eat. Another person suggests a restaurant that he hates, because he thinks the others want to go there (but he's wrong) so the others go along with the group think because they all think: Well, I hate that restaurant, but I will go along with the other folks so as not to be the troublemaker.

A similar scenerio is people marrying because all the marriage plans have been made, because no one has the courage to say: Hey wait a second, this is a mistake.

Of course, I am a naysayer by habit, always finding what's wrong with the proposal, and the result is that I become the scapegoat for not getting along with the team...but that's another story altogether.

HeadsupAceOfSpades, who discusses how it applies to politics

Dog photo of the day

Baxter wearing one of Robin's hat designs.

Craft item of the day

Homemade Hovercraft from Michelle Mitton at Scribbit on Vimeo.

wondering what to do with all those spoiled CD's?


via Scribbitblog:

Caesar's Comet

Hmm...there actually was a comet so bright that you could see it during the daytime, appearing during Julius Caesar's funeral Games.
(no, Augustus didn't make it up: the Chinese saw it too).

LINK and Book

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Pliny's history is on line at Perseus. Wikipedia summary...
and trivia: Pliny the elder died when he went to investigate and also rescue folks in the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed Pompei... his nephew (Pliny the younger) wrote a letter describing what happened LINK.

The bad news: Vesuvius last erupted in 1944....

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In the Iliad, they keep giving each other "tripods"...some of these references seem to be of cauldrons, but others accompany cauldrons, presumably a three point seat to put a jar or cauldron on top of...


As opposed to a modern tripod:

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So what did Ancient Greeks eat?

LINK

The soup that accompanied the flatbread or gruel was from fish or meat in the Iliad/Odessey (800=1000BC) but by Classic times (500 BC), it was veggies (lentils etc), and the link quotes Hesiod on this.

Lolo's new kitten

 

we got homes for the four who wandered into our garage last week, and then this one came in.

Lolo wants to keep her.

Happy photo of the day

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

The Dummies guide to Afghanistan

If you haven't read it yet, check out PJ O'Rourke's article "The 72 hour expert", in which he becomes an expert at Afghanistan in 72 hours.

Insomnia downloads of the day

Need something boring to put you to sleep?
How about TristamShandy, volume 4?

Or how about the Institutes of Christian Religion by John Calvin?

On the other hand, if you need practical "how to" advice, you can always download the Kama Sutra......

Musical interlude of the day

Heh. Jumping roap and double dutch rope jumping, so popular when Granmom was young, seems to be making a comeback.

So turn up speakers and get out and jump:

Science news below the fold

The BRAF gene mutation is associated with some cancers, including melanoma.
Now, a drug that targets the gene is in stage 3 trials.
..like antibiotics that target just germs, this will target the gene expression in the cancer cells, not all the body.
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Thirty awesome college labs

(Headsup Instapundit)
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Your days seem longer than before? blame sunspots.
Now it seems that sunspots - dark regions that emerge on the sun's surface - may be partly responsible for the millisecond fluctuations in the time it takes Earth to rotate once on its own axis.

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DynamicsOfCatsBlog links to a video showing the huge increase in detecting the number of asteroids since 1980


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DotPhysics calculates what would happen if everyone on the world jumped at the same time...the answer is: Not much:
the mass of the Earth is so huge that it is going to be pretty darn difficult to get a detectable speed. Also, there is the whole issue of getting everyone at the same place at the same time and getting them to jump at the same time.

Your Inspirational message of the day

A married couple in their early 60’s was celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary at a romantic little restaurant.

Suddenly, a tiny yet beautiful fairy appeared on their table. She said, “for being such an exemplary married couple and for being loving to each other for all this time, I will grant you each a wish”.

The wife answered, “Oh, I want to travel around the world with my darling husband.

The fairy waved her magic wand and – poof! – two tickets for the Queen Mary II appeared in her hands.

The husband thought for a moment: “Well, this is all very romantic, but an opportunity like this will never come again. I’m sorry my love, but my wish is to have a wife 30 years younger than me.

The wife, and the fairy, were deeply disappointed, but a wish is a wish. So the fairy waved her magic wand and poof!...the husband became 92 years old.

The moral of this story:

Men who are ungrateful bastards should remember fairies are female.

your email of the day from TiaMaria.

Musical Interlude of the day

Put down coffee, fast forward to 1:30, turn up speakers and enjoy!


Singin In The Rain Donald O'connor Lyrics, Make Em Laugh
Uploaded by musical-films. - Watch more comedy videos and sitcoms.

Headlines below the fold

Lots of fingerpointing over the failed hostage rescue that left nine Chinese tourists dead.

StrategyPage summarizes it this way:The police commandos screwed up big time and this has triggered more calls for reform in the National Police. The police have long been criticized for being corrupt and inept.

This ManilaBulletin article, however, quotes a British expert as saying it really wasn't their fault. They lacked training, equipment, and the gunman could watch everything on TV so knew what they were planning.
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One less job for Pinay OFW: fewer bar girls needed in Korea as the US military presence goes down in number.

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Volcano Galeras in Colombia is acting up again...plans to evacuate issued to villages on the slopes, but not in Pasto...
Hope my family there is safe.

Photo from Wikipedia via Earthweek

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Good news: Child abuse reports are down in the US...the rate has been going down for 15 years.
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Eat, Pray Love might be one on the NYTimes best seller list, but if one believes the NYTimes review, it's actually about the wonderfulness of the author.

Presumably she never learned the humility and spiritual strength of Sita in her stint at a trendy Ashram..

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Pajamas media picks up the long ignored story of voter fraud and intimidation in the 2008 Democratic primaries.

Dr. Lynette Long performed a study on caucus fraud, and her discovered accounts are devastating...Look out for my documentary, and know that what happened in 2008 will happen again this year.

Yes, I know they are a right wing site, but as a Hillary Supporter, I have written about the bias in press coverage problem and the press' collusion with the Obama camp.

Gift item of the day

From ThinkGeek:

some Abby Normal soap.


for non-geeks, it refers to this:

Hello Cthulhu

All images, story, and many characters © 2002-2006 Devon "FrogPlague" Tackett

headsup PurplePawn

Stuff below the fold

At the British Museum

The world's weirdest necklace: of hummingbird heads.
Emanuel took out a patent for the use of hummingbirds' heads in 1865, a method which involved removing the feathers from the birds' heads, and attaching them to gold mounts for use in jewellery. Here he has used emerald green and scarlet hummingbirds

headsup Fed By Birds

and don't tell Birdfeeder Father Z:

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AcrossDifficultCountry links to an article saying
The authorities in southern Sudan have unveiled a plan to rebuild the region's cities in the shapes of animals and fruit.

Elaborate blueprints for the new cities have already been drawn up.

The regional capital, Juba, will be relocated and designed in the shape of a rhinoceros. Wau, the capital of Western Bahr el-Ghazal state, is to be a somewhat unwieldy giraffe…

Presumably this is a satire.
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When I lived in Appalachia, we used to collect wild blackberries along the creek.

Cabinet of Wonders has a recipe on Creme de Mûre, a blackberry codial, and other delights from summer fruits.

Another version of the recipe is HERE.

and if this doesn't bring up an Anne of Green Gable memory, it should, although her social disaster was with raspberry, not blackberry, cordial.
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If you are into doll collecting, you might want to check Mary Williams Dollhouse shop has a new blog, about doll collections.

Steampunk Suzie, anyone?
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You know about the Geek Squad, but now The Curt Jester reports there is the God Squad: complete with logo:

So guess what? BestBuy is suing him...

Actually, when you are at a rural hospital and they bring in three critically injured in a car wreck and four stabbed (one dead) from a graduation party all at the same time, our priests in Minnesota were always a great help in comforting the families.

The elderly Catholic priest even had the permission of the local Native American medicine man to pray with his people, knowing the priest was such a holy man...

We're number...Five

A hearty contratulations to Miss Philippines...
Yes, Miss Mexico won, but the lovely Maria Venus Beyonito Raj of Bicol came in as number five.



Since she was born in Doha and her father was from India, some contested her representing the country, but a public outcry got her reinstated. The problem? Her birth certificate showed she was born in the Philippines, and was never corrected, so some claimed she was lying.

War! What's it good for?

One of the problems of studying ancient history is that one keeps running into war...or perhaps I should say the four horsemen of war, anarchy, disease, and famine, since these things seem to go together.

What got me started on this rant was the podcasts on population growth that I am listening to...lots of history here, at least in the earlier podcasts, including a lot of very depressing information about how violence and war caused depopulation over and over again...

This list has lots of depressing details on various "man made death", although as they note, some estimates by those pushing an agenda are estimates not based on scientific data, and others include disease deaths that accompanied conquest.

So if you are interested in history, and how these thing affected population growth, check out the podcast.

And the Military History Podcast has a lots of information on war and conquest in the ancient world too.

Stuff below the fold

ThinkGeek Reminds us:
Have a moment of silence for dear Pluto, whose planetary club membership card was revoked today in 2006.



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Hitler might have had a Jewish Ancestor? Who wudda thot?

Actually, that's been known for years.
Before SouthPark, there was Spike Jones...

But today few would allow Osama and friends to be portrayed as monkeys...
Ah, for the good old days when the enemies of mankind were ridiculed by the cultural elite, instead of the US bowing and apologizing for minor "human rights" problems to her enemies who would jail Spike Jones for insulting the government or stoning Anna Russell to death for blasphemy ...RogerLSimon's take HERE.

My rant on this moved to BNN.

Other recent BNN rants:

• Attacks on Foreigners in the Philippines, 23 Aug 2010

• Big Brother is Taking Over Your Doctor’s Office, 20 Aug 2010

• Assange of Wikileaks’ Blackmail Scam, 13 Aug 2010

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Now for the really important question of the day:
Which Henry VIII portrayal do you like the best?

My favorite: Quint. Looks rational, but crazy as a loon...

Your Inspirational Message of the Day

The Window Through Which We Look



A young couple moved into a new neighborhood
The next morning while they were eating breakfast,
The young woman saw her neighbor hanging the wash outside.
'That laundry is not very clean,' she said.
'She doesn't know how to wash correctly.
Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.'

Her husband looked on, but remained silent.

Every time her neighbor would hang her wash to dry,
The young woman would make the same comments.

About one month later, the woman was surprised to see

a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband:

'Look, she has learned how to wash correctly.
I wonder who taught her this.'

The husband said, 'I got up early this morning and
Cleaned our windows.'



And so it is with life.

What we see when watching others
depends on the window through which we look

your lesson for today from an email of Tiamaria

History video on line

Dr. Nieman's lectures can be found on youtube and Amazon, but some of the lectures can be watched at YOUTUBE.
A good teacher on early civilization in the Middle East.

Audio stuff below the fold

Mother Deloris Hart is interviewed on EWTN NEWS.

What, you don't remember Delores? Elvis fans know she was the first actress to kiss "the King" and then left Hollywood to serve THE KING.

So, here is the musical interlude for today.

Grannies versus the Bikers

Another day, another Granny mowed down by a cyclist in New York City.
and the grannies are protesting:

Call it Grandma Justice. Victimized by kamikaze cyclists who see old folks as speed bumps, and stop lights as suggestions, aged Manhattan residents are taking the law into their wrinkled hands. They're using canes to halt speed-demon cyclists.

Congregating near Stuyvesant Town, "they take their canes and put them on the street to make riders slow down," said Regina Weld, who admits she's participated. No one has been hurt.

A more constructive approach to fighting demon cyclists is being taken by Nancy Gruskin, whose husband was mowed down and killed last year by a bike deliveryman. She's starting the Stuart C. Gruskin Family Foundation to fight for pedestrian rights. Find it at scgff.org.

All agree that something has to change. "At what point do you fight back?" asked Weld.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gals_getting_lost_in_no_man_land_vHnkB8kPgJqoP52Ae6d6oM/1#ixzz0xUBM0sSG

Gift item of the day

Got left over balloons after your last party?

Well, just recycle them into a dress.
HeadsupTokyoMango

Musical interlude of the day

By John Cardinal Newman.

One of Gandhi's favorite hymns.

Cat item of the day

TRIBBLE CAT IS WATCHING YOU

Before and after

more Here and HERe

anyone want a kitten?

these four wandered into our garage, and now we have to find them homes...we already have five cats and seven dogs.

Cat photo of the day

You woke me up and it's not even mealtime?

Booth at trade fair

Selling brown rice and capiz lamps.
The latest lamp design is a banana tree on table at right.

Ruby and cousins

Please don't eat the dress

Education on line

I tend to watch (actually download, then watch later) educational stuff on youtube.

While watching a video (about atrial fibrillation) he mentioned he had a knol about it.

So factoid for today: if you know something, you can publish it as a knol, and even embed your youtube video in the knol.

If you are wondering what is A.Fib: you diagnose it because the heart rate is "irregularly irregular" on the EKG or pulse. It can be due to heart disease, medicine, or thyroid problems.

Since the atria aren't pumping, you can get clots there, which can cause problems. So we usually put these people on blood thinner.

"The few" who saved the West

"Seventy years ago, Winston Churchill made one of his most stirring speeches.

In his address, given in Parliament, he praised the Battle of Britain aircrews who had fought off the threat of Nazi invasion during the summer of 1940. It become known as "The Few"..."

Full speech HERE:
..

The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and b~ their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.

MP3 - 4 Megs

Hitler expected Britain to surrender, but they didn'; and by keeping air superiority, the British prevented the expected German invasion, meaning the Germans then turned their army to the East instead.

and of course everyone in Britain knew Churchill was referring to the St. Crispin's day speech in Henry V:

KING HENRY V:
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Music download for today

Gregorian chant
more HERE

Byzantine chant

Public domain classics

Indian music page

LOTR related stuff

all from TheOneRingNet:

middle Earth Podcasts.
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Most folks know JRRT was raised by a priest from the local Birmingham Oratory, the same place where Cardinal Newman resided years earlier. (Newman is now up for sainthood.)
A Tolkien great nephew will be making Cardinal Newman's statue for the Pope's visit.
TimTolkien is most famous for his Sentinel Sculpture of Spitfires...
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TORN also links to a 1968 BBC interview of JRRT by John Izzard.
Now, if only someone would post it on Youtube so I can download it and watch it without interruptions by a bad internet connection.

Stories that make you go WTF?

Prince Charles is telling his peasants to take short showers, not baths, saying it will save you 15 British pounds a year if you do.
Yes, but it's hard to play with your rubber ducky in a shower.


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Weirdest part of the article:Prince Charles' 40- year-old Aston Martin uses bioethanol made entirely from wine.
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Sarah Palin, wordsmith?


I don't know about her "death panels", but there seems to be a lot of propaganda in the news lately telling us it's better if we just lay down and die instead of using taxpayer money to live.
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Medical saga of the week: Surviving decapitation....
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The original Cordoba mosque in Spain was a Catholic church, St. Vincent's.
Lots of debate in the comments about the "golden era of tolerance" back then.But the Santo Nino of Atocha legend suggests it wasn't as rosy as some intellectuals claim...
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Saddest story of the week
The problem of aid going into the pocket of corrupt politicians is slowing down donations to Pakistan flood victims.
Yes, and the problem is not only in Pakistan, alas.

Bucktown Arts Festival

Robin and Tammy will be exhibiting their crafts at the Bucktown Arts festival (near Chicago) on Aug 28-29.
The 24th annual celebration of art features paintings, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, furniture and photography from local and national artists, plus live music, theater, film screenings, dance and spoken word performances on stages throughout the fest, plus a food court...

Stuff below the fold

Phaeton: A legend based on an asteroid impact in Bavaria in 3123BC?
Ah, but where's the impact site?
There is an impact site in Germany, but it only dates to 200 BC.

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You know about the terracotta army, but what about the pre Qin stone soldiers..
PhotoPeople's Daily.

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The good news of the day: why Pizza will save your life

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and if you want to feel old, read THIS

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Here in the Philippines, a terrible bus accident up north killed over 40 people when the bus brakes failed on a mountain road. Alas, these things are not uncommon...

and the Morong 43 are still in jail...
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The D-Day Bagpiper, Bill Millan, has died, age 88. Here is a clip from the film "The LongestDay"...



Rest in Peace, Bill Millan...

The Jumping Padre

A little bit of history: The legendary Archbishop Hannan of New Orleans spoke of his days as paratrooper chaplain:

more HERE

He was close to the Kennedys and gave an eulogy at JFK's funeral. He also is a big sports fan, especially with the New Orlean Saints.

Ah Summer

and yes, Maxine has a Facebook page.

Musical interlude of the day

the music of the spheres by Mike Oldfield:

Headlines below the fold

Those Russian fires are threatening their nuclear research city of Sarov...but no risk of radiation leak.
Deja vu for me: I lived in New Mexico the year the state had scores of fires, and Los Alamos partly burned down.

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Using fish nets to clean up space junk.

but what about Mario?

and IBEX Spacecraft investigates what happens when the solar wind hits the earth's magnetic field.


AHHGGH WAGD!


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Zipper problems in the US Navy.
..my sainted mother was the one who told me the joke about not dropping the soap in the shower, so it's not a new problem...

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Mitochondrial Eve lived 200 thousand years ago. link2

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Is the "Avastin" decision an example of death panels?
From what I've read, no: it works for lung cancer, brain cancer, and several other types of cancer,
but for breast cancer it doesn't work very well, and has so many side effects that the problems outweigh the advantages in breast cancer.... And the anti euthanasia site Secondhand smoke agrees.

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The hunchback of Notre Dame might have been based on a rock carver who helped repair the cathedral.
Headsup TeaAtTrianon

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The latest international incident with US troops in Japan: Baby babble

Praying on Holy Ground

A Mosque/Islamic center near Ground Zero?
Yup. down the street from the strip club ...

more photos HERE, including this one showing a health bar selling Pizza that is both Kosher and Halal.

In the past, our Muslim docs would buy their meat at Kosher butchers, and most knew that the K symbol meant that it was okay to eat.
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The point of American religious freedom is that we respect freedom of religion.

now, if only NYCity would allow them to rebuild St.Nicolas Orthodox church...

FRIED BUGS? NO THANKS

Some UN guy wants folks to eat insects. YUM! Camaru!

photo from Palaboy, taken in Pampanga.

RECIPE FOR Camaru
2 tbsps. oil
1/2 cup vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup sliced tomato
1 onion
1/4 k. camaru or rice field cricket
Camaru Procedures:
1. Individually remove the extremities of the crickets leaving only the head and the body.
2. Heat oil in a pan and saute the tomato and onion.
3. Add the vinegar, and allow to simmer for a few minutes.
5. Season with salt.


A farmer brought some for Lolo last year, and yes he ate them, but not me. I eat nearly everything, even dog, but say No to bugs, and no to balot.
But I eat almost everything else:
Octopus Adobo? no problem:





headsup Dustbury

The "WAGD" headlines of the day

John Bolton says Israel has 8 days to destroy Iran's nuclear program or live with it.

Musical Interlude of the day

Celtic Music magazine reports Mark Gunn is releasing a new album: Kilted for her pleasure.

He is most famous for his Celtic music podcast program (also on Itunes),a great way to listen to celtic and folk music.

The new album is on his lesser known Pubsongs podcast.

He has some videos of his singing on youtube, but they are so badly recorded you are better going to the links and downloading the stuff if you are interested.

LOTR audio

heh. Until the copyright police find out someone put it there, you can find the 1981 BBC audio version of Lord of the Rings at youtube.



Actually, I have it...bought it years ago and ripped it into mp3 to bring to the Philipines.

written by Brian Sibley and stars Ian Holms (who played Bilbo in the movie) as Frodo.

Gift item of the day

Recipe book idea: Roald Dahl's revolting recipes:

BrianSibley posts this photo:

Sibley writes:
Among possible dishes that I might have tackled (if I were going on the show, which, of course, I'm not!) are Snozzcumbers (cucumbers stuffed with tuna and poppy seeds), Stink Bugs' Eggs (hard boiled eggs with the yolks mixed with cheese, curry powder and chopped gherkins sprinkled with Asafoetida, an Indian herb that, apparently, smells of sweaty socks)

Distant Thunder

At HNN, there is a note about the 1943 Bengali famine that took 3 million lives.

The causes were complex, but essentially because of the war, the price of rice went up and folks couldn't afford to buy it; so they starved while the rice was exported and local British officials didn't seem to think that this was a problem. (sorta like what happened 100 years earlier in Ireland).

Satyajit Ray's impressive film "distant thunder" about the famine is available on YOUTUBE, with subtitles.

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another interesting post at Historynet asks if the Middle East's problems were caused by Lawrence of Arabia.

actually, there is a good argument that the downfall and dismemberment of the tottering but multi-ethnic Ottoman and Austria/Hungary empires after the First World War were bad things (to make new states, millions of people were ethnically cleansed and sent elsewhere to settle), but it was not caused by a single person.

Presidential Wedding?

shhh....don't say anything but PNoy might have wedding plans...

stuff below the fold

CatholicKey Blog has photos of the huge Marian Day festival in Carthage Missouri...
it is a yearly festival for the Vietnamese American diaspora, many of whom live along the Gulf coast and were hit by both Katrina and the oil spill....

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Internet archives has all sorts of stuff on it.
For example, they have lots of old books on the Hittites. They aslo have various Cambridge Ancient and Medieval History textbooks by JB Bury. (I brought the hard copy of this book with me to the Philippines).
They also have newer things, such as a film of the keynote speaker in a recent conference on the Indus Valley civilization,
and a bunch of films about the Uyghur diaspora.

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CSI Edinburgh: Who killed Mary's husband, and how was he killed?
(headsup Archeoblog).

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BBC: Death of a Peacemaker: podcast

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There have been terrible floods in Pakistan and mudslides in China.
Sigh. In our prayers.

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and finally: the Medical dangers of ...PIZZA
I was aware of listeriosis and being burnt by the hot cheese, but this one says beware of speeding pizza delivery trucks.

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PIZZASONG! Turn up speakers and dance

Dancing!

Ah, a wonderful art work made from paper, showing a mother and daughter dancing.

I used to work with Native Americans and attended many dances, so this brings back memories.

Another Sign that the End of the World is Nigh

From the LATimes: French public disapproves of topless beaches:

An Ifop poll last year revealed that 24% of women were perturbed by toplessness on beaches — 37% when you added thong-clad buttocks — and 88% described themselves as pudique (which carries a range of meanings from modest to prudish)....
Coralie Kosiada, 23, has never gone topless on a public beach, and doesn't plan to. "Honestly, I don't really like women who show their breasts," she said, pursing her lips and recoiling slightly. "There are not that many nice-looking breasts, so why display them? And it's a generational question. Mostly 50-year-old women do it. It's kind of passe."

In the UK, even mermaids have to cover up:
(headsup DaveBarry)




as SmilingSally Blog posts:

For All the Girls

When I was in my younger days,
I weighed a few pounds less,
I needn't hold my tummy in
To wear a belted dress.

But now that I am older,
I've set my body free;
There's comfort of elastic
Where once my waist would be.

Inventor of those high-heeled shoes
My feet have not forgiven;
I have to wear a nine now,
But used to wear a seven.

And how about those pantyhose-
They're sized by weight, you see,
So how come when I put them on
The crotch is at my knees?

I need to wear these glasses
As the prints were getting smaller;
And it wasn't very long ago
I know that I was taller.

Though my hair has turned to grey
And my skin no longer fits,
On the inside, I'm the same old me,
Just the outside's changed a bit.

Author Unknown