Monday, February 28, 2011

Video of the week

While looking for the music theme from Schindler's list, I found that the miniseries Holocaust is available on youtube.

try explaining such evil to a ten year old...

On my Xanga blog one of the headlines discussed was that the CDC just redicovered medical folks catch TB from their patients. Well, duh. Been there, done that (although I didn't catch it, I merely got a very postive skin test).

That brought me to the cockeyed logic of Walker Percy, who retired from medicine after he caught TB as a pathology resident.

The first book of his that I read was "the Moviegoer", which I wasn't sure I liked but it haunted me in a way that only classics usually do.

But his satires are better known: Essay at Chronicles of Higher Ed here.

Peter Kreeft podcast on Percy here.

Ironically, I enjoyed the Thantos Syndrome, not for it's antieuthanasia satires,(which is too close to reality nowadays to be funny) but for the zany characters, and the completely not political correct satire on what would happen if you put chemicals in the water supply of New Orleans to make the folks there smart, happy, hard working, and obedient...

Isn't it ironic that the best "Catholic" writers (Percy and Flannery O'Connor) are from the South of the US (where Catholics are rare) and whose "religious" themes are often interpreted by the overly pious as anti Christian?

of course, if I had read Lancelot first, I'd probably agree with them.

Factoid: His daughter was deaf, but since he supported lip reading not ASL, he is disliked by much of the American Deaf community.

Guns, gals, and gender bending...with music

on the other hand:

Yes, that's Mary Martin, best known for her Broadway role as Maria in the Sound of Music and Nellie in South Pacific..

But for kids, this was her most famous role:

ah, for the good old days before political correctness....when a grandmother could play a 12 year old boy, and no one bothered to wonder about the sexual implications of Tinkerbelle...

Stuff below the fold, complete with rants

Right now I'm into ancient history.

So All the shenanigans in the US, where Democrats are trying to ignore the elections and overturn the social contract implied in the procedural agreement of democracy to get their own way, reminds me of how the Gracchi brothers, trying to get land reform against a greedy upper class Senate in Rome, twisted traditions of the Republic to get their own way, were killed for their bullying tactics.

Usually they are portrayed as heroes, which they were, but the bad news is that their actions destroyed the balance between the classes, so in the long run they destroyed the republic in order to save "the people".

The Marxist interpretation of Julius Caesar is the same, that he was killed for trying to help "the people".

The irony: The landless masses got used to living off the dole, so when they got farms, they sold them back, preferring to live off the dole in the city rather than live poor on a farm where crops might fail. Cheap grain from Egypt undercut their ability to make a profit, and slave labor was cheaper to use to cultivate crops for export, while soil erosion/deterioration made the land in Italy less productive...

which is why I argued that the unions resemble the Luddites: many of the gov't jobs have been or will be computerized or outsourced to save money no matter how much they strike, but the damage to democracy will outlast their jobs.

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Yesterday was the feast day of Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother. Typical saintly biography HERE, where I got the picture of the effeminate saint so beloved by the pious.

So why is he so popular? Well, maybe it's because of the parts not usually noted in the pious biographies, such as he was a playboy once engaged to two ladies at the same time, and not the milksop of the pious books.

But the reason that the common people embraced him as one of their own can be found in this story:

"In 1860, a band of soldiers from the army of Garibaldi entered the mountain village of Isola, Italy. They began to burn and pillage the town, terrorizing its inhabitants.

Possenti, with his seminary rector's permission, walked into the center of town, unarmed, to face the terrorists. One of the soldiers was dragging off a young woman he intended to rape when he saw Possenti and made a snickering remark about such a young monk being all alone. Possenti quickly grabbed the soldier's revolver from his belt and ordered the marauder to release the woman. The startled soldier complied, as Possenti grabbed the revolver of another soldier who came by. Hearing the commotion, the rest of the soldiers came running in Possenti's direction, determined to overcome the rebellious monk.

At that moment a small lizard ran across the road between Possenti and the soldiers. When the lizard briefly paused, Possenti took careful aim and struck the lizard with one shot. Turning his two handguns on the approaching soldiers, Possenti commanded them to drop their weapons. Having seen his handiwork with a pistol, the soldiers complied. Possenti ordered them to put out the fires they had set, and upon finishing, marched the whole lot out of town, ordering them never to return. The grateful townspeople escorted Possenti in triumphant procession back to the seminary, thereafter referring to him as "the Savior of Isola"."

So he is now the patron saint of gunowners.

He's not the only saint whose popularity is obscured by pious retelling: It wasn't until I saw this movie on Saint Rita that I realized she was popular among my Italian classmates' moms, not for her visions as much as she was a sexy housewife and loving mother who not only managed to forgive her husband's murderers but who managed to stop a Mafia type feud between the families that were terrorizing the town by inspiring them to stop the feud.

Imagine that type of plot in the Sopranos...

Indeed, imagine such a peacemaker in Libya or the middle East, or even in Madison Wisconsin, saying we need to respect and love each other and stop the hatred and work together for the common good.
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another playboy/reporter made good. More here.
It would make a great movie if they left the jokes and religion in...
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Quick, before the copyright cops find out:

The Ginger Tree miniseries
is on youtube.

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Libyan evacuations

The Hindustani Times has a list and numbers of those leaving Libya.

Stuff below the fold

TORN reports on test filming of barrel riding.
includes photos.

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most atheistic screeds attacking religion as murderous seem unaware of this rebellion:

"...Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Taiping Rebellion, the momentous 19th century Chinese revolt led by a disillusioned young man who imagined himself the brother of Jesus Christ, come to save his Chinese brothers and sisters from the clutches of the Imperial Qing dynasty. Almost fourteen years later with over twenty million people dead, the Taiping Rebellion was quashed. But what did the rebels truly believe in and what did it achieve? "

InOurTimePodcast HERE.

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The country's broke, but never mind:

10 thousand gather to celebrate Mugabe's birthday.

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The Irish are again leaving that land to find jobs.
Not good news for a country that put it's faith in the EU...

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The IronDog race was held this weekend, despite storms and weather problems causing delays, and
and KTUU reports Tyler Huntington and Chris Olds Won
......photos HERE.

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The "Don't mess with Mama" image of the day:

image by Francisco Gascó

ThunderThighs, the Dinosaur...

Factoid of the day

Philippine headlines below the fold

Friday and Saturday were big days to celebrate the EDSA revolution.

The news here has been full of the celebrations and interviews of those who participated.

PNoy even cited the roll of music in the revolution...."Aquino said though songs like “Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo” and “Bayan Ko” may now sound too old to the new generation, these songs are part of the country’s history because it helped topple a 20-year dictatorship,,"

Of course, Banyan Ko was written in the 1930's to protest of the US occupation, but never mind...

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But the headlines are full of stories of OFW coming home, or worries about those still missing in the New Zealand earthquakes. Our OFW are all over the world... Not only do the locals, remembering our own "People power" revolutions, identify with those trying to get rid of dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, but there are a lot of our OFW there who might be in danger.

Headlines in today's Manila Bulletin:

Escape from Libya
1,491 OFWs evacuated;

the real problem: The Gov't estimates we have 26,000 to 30 000 OFW working there.

"...Of the total 26,200 Filipinos, about 13,000 are due to be taken out under the government's evacuation program and the rest are expected to leave with their multinational employers..."

and other countries are scrambling to evacuate their people: The UK used their own transport planes, China has 16000 working there who will leave on planes,

The MB says most are working for oil companies, transportation, in telecoms, as medical personnel...

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Related items
the papers also note the demonstrations against corruption in Iraq.

PJTatler reports that the Iranians have jailed the opposition leaders:
"... both opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have been transferred to a secret prison in Tehran..."

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Orange Marmalade

Ironically, in a country with lots of fresh citrus fruits, a decent Orange Marmalde is hard to find.

Or maybe it's not ironic, since making jams and jellies is traditionally how northern cold climates preserve fruits for the long winter.

And of course, thanks to modern transportation, you can buy oranges in northern parts of the world all year long.

But if you want to make your own organg marmalade, Design sponge has a recipe HERE for Orange vanilla marmalade.

Musical Interlude of the day

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Musical interlude of the day

a popular patriotic song here in the Philippines: History HERE.

It's The 25th anniversary of the EDSA revolution.

big celebration in Manila to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the popular revolt that overthrew Marcos.

And of course they built a shrine to commemorate it.

Medical news you can use

Elephant-to-Human Transmission of Tuberculosis, 2009

Abstract
In 2009, the Tennessee Department of Health received reports of 5 tuberculin skin test (TST) conversions among employees of an elephant refuge and isolation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a resident elephant.,,,

Ran across that article while writing about the recent increase in drug resistant tuberculosis..

essay is on my Xangablog.

News you can use

The "every cloud has a silver lining" headline of the day:

Small Nuclear War Could Reverse Global Warming for Years

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Podcast: Everything you wanted to know about chocolate (and why it's good for you)

not only does it lower your blood pressure, help your asthma, are high in healthy anti oxidants, but it makes you happy...

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Snow white playing cards

remember the "good old days" when people still played cards?

of course, nowadays, kids are into more interactive play

such as:
the Snow White Video game:
"...Help Snow White avoid the evil clutches of the jealous queen and seek refuge in the dwarfs' forest home. Beware of strangers peddling apples, and find Prince Charming, your true love, to live happily ever after..."

Sigh. My granddaughter is now getting too old for Snow White, and into Farmville and Plants vs Zombies.

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Factoid of the day from Epilog:

A New Zealand university student conducted a study to see how many more French fries he'd get if he upgraded at McDonald's. Not much according to his research--he averaged only 14 more fries by choosing the 70-cent upgrade from a medium to a large.

more information From Answers.com: there are 32 fries in a small order of fries.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Musical Interlude of the day

Insomnia downloads of the day

Don't feel like counting sheep? Try listening to this instead:

Sophistical Elenchi

by Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC)
Translated by W.A. Pickard-Cambridge (1873-1952)

De Sophisticis Elenchis is the sixth of Aristotle's six texts on logic which are collectively known as the Organon ("Instrument"). In De Sophisticis Elenchis Aristotle identifies 13 falacies. Verbal Fallacies are: Accent or Emphasis; Amphibology; Equivocation; Composition; Division and Figure of Speech. Material Fallacies are: Accident; Affirming the Consequent; Converse Accident; Irrelevant Conclusion; Begging the Question; False Cause and Fallacy of Many Questions. (Adapted from Wikipedia)

No ArtBell in your area? Never fear:

Unidentified Flying Objects by United States Federal Bureau of Investigation is on line.

OR you could listen to other "good for your soul" type downloads that make Oprah's advice look wimpy, such as:

Letters to His Son on the Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman

or you might want to listen to the R rated version:

The Curtezan Unmasked

by Anonymous

"The Curtezan unmasked or, the Whoredomes of Jezebel Painted to the Life: With Antidotes against them, or Heavenly Julips to cool Men in the Fever of Lust" is a fire-and-brimstone polemic by "A Spiritual Physician" to persuade young men not to succumb to harlotry and its accompanying perils. (Introduction by Denny Sayers)

Gutenberg e-text

Gandalf is blogging again

During the LOTR filming, Ian McKellan posted ongoing reports on his webpage, where he posts and links about his numerous projects on stage and screen.

His new blog about the Hobbit is HERE.

headsup TORN

Are the teachers out on Strike? No Problem

RoboTeacher to the Rescue!

Developed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) at a cost of some $1.39 million, Engkey is a telepresence bot, controlled by teachers in the Philippines. It has two-way video and audio for interaction with students, and can move its arms around to make a point. The LED shows the teacher's face or an animated CG face.

No, they won't really replace teachers, but alternative teaching using new technology could allow individual student learning at their own pace, decreasing the need for the number or trained teachers.

So your kids could learn at youtube's Khan academy, or start a curriculum taught by the best as shown in the program Jamie Oliver's Dream school...

Cat item of the day

and the most important news of the day is....

Smokey the cat wins the prize for having the world's loudest purr.

Crime, Libel and hype Headlines below the fold

One author writing an "ain't she awful" book on Sarah Palin is threatening to sue another "ain't she awful" book author.

Why buy either one? as Salon puts it:

New book about Sarah Palin confirms what you know about Sarah Palin

"Ain't it awful" books are easy to write and sell: nuanced insightful books are such a bore...

As I wrote in 2009 it's the "Heathers factor"...
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Even Mordor can trash Aragorn and Frodo. download HERE.

Yeah, but this film already did it:

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Illegal small mining opersions contributed to the flooding and landslides in Samar.

I'm ambivalent about this: getting mining companies to invest will produce jobs and you can regulate them if they pollute, but corruption encourages regulators to look the other way and whistleblowers are easily "eliminated", so you have a problem:
because the alternative may not be no mining and pristine environment, but "do it yourself" mining that endangers both the miners and the environment.

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Who are the worst polluters in the UK? Old people, who take cars and taxis instead of walking, who keep the thermostat up in their large houses instead of living in a cold one room flat, and who eat at restaurants instead of cooking at home.

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USAToday has a post on the Jack Wheeler murder mystery.

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and Orange County remembers the good guys killed by Somali pirates ...

Another newspaper derided them as "Bible Thumpers", but a closer look shows they attended the same parish church as Martin Sheen and Brooke Shields (according toGetReligion)

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Hamas, for the second time, tries to eliminate male hair stylists from cutting ladies hair in Gaza.

Guess Pinoy hairdressers can cross Gaza off their list for jobs.

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Hackers one, hatemongers zero

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Craft item of the day

How to draw a kitten

Earthquakes hit NZ

Big earthquake in Christchurch New Zealand.

in our prayers

Everyday heroes: NYPD

from the NYDailyNews:

"...The NYPD pulled off a dangerous and dramatic rescue on Sunday, dangling a detective from a helicopter in ferocious winds to rescue two West Point cadets who were freezing to death on a mountain ledge..."

USATODAY story HERE.

Summary: The

two got stuck on a ledge, and called for help from a cellphone. After figuring out where the cellphone call came from, local rescuers arrived but couldn't get them...so finally they had to call for air rescue. By the time they arrived, it was 2 am, and they had to do two rescues to get off the young men.

photos from NYDailyNews.
NYPD pilot Steve Browning (top) and ESU Detective Christopher Condon (below) were among the heroes.

apparantly, the NYPD has helicopters 24/7 and the mountain was 60 miles north of the city, so they were called in to help.

Philippine headlines below the fold

Another day, another volcano.

No, not in our area. But the headline made Drudge.

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CNN conspires with rich Americans to keep our local eggplant high protein.

Better to find slugs in half your eggplant and for farmers to lost their crops than to let the Philippines get away with a trial of GM eggplant.

Why: Scinews points out:

Bruce Chassy, associate director of the Biotechnology Center at the University of Illinois, United States, said he believes that anti-GM advocates may have poured their resources into the Philippines "because they fear the model the Philippines has set up may spread like a cancer and infect countries that now reject or are uncertain about GM crops.

"The Philippines has been a beacon of scientific enlightenment in a vast sea of darkness with regards to sound, science-based policies about agricultural biotechnology and GM crops. This poses an enormous threat to the movement against GM," he said.

Reality check, please.
we grow "organic rice" which we are looking to export. We sell it for three times that of the rice imported from elsewhere that is used to feed poor people here. The dirty little secret is that outsiders from the first world pressure our elites to be "organic" because it's easy to do....
The same type who are stopping GM foods are the ones opposing fertilizer and pesticides...

Information about eggplant borers and why prevention means multiple sprays of insecticide, or maybe buying an expensive "sticky net" to cover one's crops could help if you really insist on organic.

Indeed, there are arguments that it was NGO's that stopped the "Green revolution" from reaching Africa. Here's a typical left wing explanation hailing Africa's failure to embrace evil crops.

Africa is characterised by its cultural diversity, which makes up its wealth. By ignoring the first Green Revolution, Africans have demonstrated to the world that they have understood that this revolution would kill their cultural diversity and their agriculture.

Actually, Africa is not that diverse. The majority of people south of the Sahara, and outside of the Ethiopia/Somali tribes are Bantu tribes that are very similar to one another culturally. Like the Han in China, they introduced cattle and agriculture into the areas of hunter gatherers, and diplaced or intermarried with the non Bantu population...

And Africans, who embraced maize that originated in the Americas, to expand their crops, would probably welcome new crops to expand their income and diet.

And the reason they "ignored" the green revolution is that development was shoved into fancy programs in cities to show off, and agriculture was ignored.

The typical African farmer in our area was a woman with a hoe, since the men (who traditionally used cattle to plow) were forced by economic pressures to work in the cities or to emigrate to the mines in South Africa to support their families. With the population increase, the "slash and burn" and moving around methods no longer worked, and the fields were being ruined for lack of fertilizer and modern farming techniques.

Hopefully, Bill Gates is rich enough to counter the rich greens who want to keep people living the simple life eating organic food and suffering from malnutrition, B vitamin deficiency from eating only maize or chronic cyanide neuropathy from eating cassava.

if not, well, China is willing and eager to do the job in Africa.

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Another story that has implications for the US: China is holding 70 Filipinos for drug charges (mainly drug mules). They are threatening to execute three this week, and the VP is there beggin them not to, and to go after the bigshots instead.

Now, when the Chinese dissadent got the Nobel prize, the Chinese pressured the Philippines successfully to stay home. They used the bus massacre to pressure us. Now I suspect they will use these drug mules to pressure more concessions.

Watch the Spratlys...
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Finally, Butz remembers EDSA.

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Update: Small earthquake in Manila area this morning...didn't feel it here.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Jasmine revolution: Aljezeerah has lots of links:

Protests death toll rises in Libya

Yemen observes 'Friday of Fury'

Bahrain forces fire at protesters

'Victory march' fills Cairo square

Gaddafi's son warns of civil war

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Oh well, here in the Philippines, everyone still loves PNoy, so all we have to worry about are Volcanoes, earthquakes and Dengue Fever...
and the headline?