Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Peace on Earth etc etc...

HAPPY CHANUKAH!

And the Obama White House has a video about how they made the WH Kitchen Kosher.

One of my medical school roommates mother kept a kosher kitchen...it requires two sets of plates and a lot of care.

And check the kosher okay on the side of prepared foods (similar to the Halal mark on many pre packaged foods here). Some of these food laws overlap, so many Muslims in the US used to check the kosher status to make sure there were no pork products in their food. Nowadays, however, there are enough Muslims in the US to add both marks.

Which always reminds me of this commercial:

Link

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Presumably he will release a Kwanza greeting later....and no, I don't celebrate Kwanza...we never celebrated it in the two African countries where I worked, because it was a holiday made up in the US to encourage African Americans of their heritage...

Or maybe it would be more accurate to say his impression of their heritage...because no one in Africa celebrates it...

Kwanza means "first" in Swahili but not in the languages or culture of west Africa, where most ancestors of American blacks originated... .. But since the average American doesn't know the difference between a Kikuyu or a non Bantu Luo, let alone that no American slave ever spoke Swahili, I think I'll just stay out of the fight.

(Hint: Obama's father was a Luo)

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Another made up item:
Newt was right?!


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The Iranian Schindler who saved thousands of Jews from the Nazis

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And Instapundit links to this article: who is blowing up Iran? Two more explosions there...

Musical interlude of the day



Sad Christmas

Many of those who died in the floods down South were children


The headlines of the Manila Bulletin is about how folks are donating food, clothing, and money to the 200 thousand displace by flooding, and sending and coffins to bury the flood victims.

Photo shows members of the Philippine Navy carrying coffins, part of 500 coffins from Sto. Tomas, Pampanga, to be loaded on the BRP Dagupan for shipment to flood-hit Iligan and Cagayan de Oro. (Photo by ALI VICOY)


They will be using the same "portable morgue" that they used in the earlier ferry disaster to collect DNA and identification of victims, many of whom will probably be buried unidentified.

Sigh.

Strategy Page warns that the war on corruption might get hot here...
and they also note:

December 19, 2011: A storm of unexpected size and speed hit the south over the weekend, killing over a thousand people and forcing nearly 300,000 from their homes. This has shut down the terrorists, separatists and gangsters, as well as military operations in the flooded areas. Troops and police have been shifted to disaster relief in the areas along the coast were most of the damage was done.



no, the disaster is 400 km south of here, but we've lived through several floods in our rural area, with lower death tolls: usually folks know to evacuate since flooding and typhoons are more common here...

Ranting about Stuff below the fold

You might be reading warm and fuzzy stories of this Jailed liberal and attractive American woman who was pardoned and allowed to visit home.

Ghost in the story:

Her parole sparked anger in Peru, still reeling from its 20-year conflict which ended in 2000 after some 70,000 lives were lost. Headlines across the country labeled her a “terrorist.”

Nah, most of those massacred horribly were merely defenseless Peruvian peasants and don't count, whereas the woman was a liberal who believed in the revolution, (so she is a heroine?)

as this BBC podcast notes: the term is not heroine but "useful idiot"

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In contrast: Speaking truth to power: Vaclav Havel's revolution.

“Living within the truth,” according to Havel, is an inherently moral enterprise. It requires sacrifice, which presupposes a “sense of responsibility” for others — a belief in love, friendship and compassion. In the company of John Paul II and Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Havel believed that political renewal starts in moral and personal renewal. In one letter from prison he wrote, “But who should begin? Who should break this vicious circle? The only possible place to begin is with myself. . . . Whether all is really lost or not depends entirely on whether or not I am lost.”

Ghost in the article: Havel was secular, and the revolution didn't start in his country, but in Poland, spurred on by a pesky bishop who built a church in the Marxist paradise of Nowo Huta and backed Solidarity...which is why the story tends to be ignored.
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Should scientist publish a "how to make Captain Trips" type articles in scientific journals?

The NYTimes says no.

Ghost in the story: A lot of folks already know how to do it.
Second ghost in the story: Anyone using birdflu or other infectious disease to kill their enemies would end up dead themselves. That's why anthrax, which is not spread person to person, is a better candidate for bioterror...

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NGO's pushing social changes in the third world: ignore the real problems of poor countries and let's push for gay rights and aborting babies.

Yup. sounds like the Philippines. and Obama is linking these PC items with foreign aid...

No trained birth attendents for one third of the births, but never mind...

The decrease in the birth rate here suggests that the wholistic approach (using prolonged breast feeding, NFP (used by 20 percent of the population), and including using the pill or Depo, which are already used by one third of the population, and used by Catholics for medical reasons) is working...the average number of children is now 3, not 6 as in the 1960's....and falling...

You need a wholistic approach, where the object is not population control but healthy moms and healthy children. This means midwives in rural areas (who don't ask for extra "gifts" to deliver your baby), well child clinics, protein supplements, and encouraging prolonged breast feeding...there are a lot of poor kids in this area with the reddish hair of mild protein malnutrition...

For example, the huge decrease in maternal deaths in Afghanistan is a result of this multipronged approach...

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Feminists are angry they feel compelled to care for their mothers.

Why did we fight so hard for sexual liberation, birth control and abortion rights, new models of childbirth, respect in the workplace and child care — only to become demure good girls in middle and old age?
Yeah, they want the government to do it all so they aren't burdened...If you don't see where this is going, you haven't been paying attention.

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Insomnia downloads of the week

Saint Charles Borromeo: A Sketch of the Reforming Cardinal by Stacpoole-Kenny, Louise M.


History of England from the Accession of James II - (Volume 4, Chapter 20 by Macaulay, Thomas Babington


Natural History Volume 2, The by Pliny the Elder, John Bostock


They also have some lighter listening:

Idylls of the King by Tennyson, Alfred, Lord

Christmas Carol Collection 2011 by Various

Christmas Carol, A-1 by Dickens, Charles

and these anthologies:


  1. [Multilingual] Various. "Christmas Short Works Collection 2006" · (readers)
  2. Various. "Christmas Short Works Collection 2007" · (readers)
  3. [Multilingual] Various. "Christmas Short Works Collection 2008" · (readers)
  4. [Multilingual] Various. "Christmas Short Works Collection 2009" · (readers)
  5. [Multilingual] Various. "Christmas Short Works Collection 2010" · (readers)
  6. [Multilingual] Various. "Christmas Short Works Collection 2011" · (readers)

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Southsea romance

Speaking of Australian/NZ movies like Molokai, which are about themes of that area: I saw this movie years ago, and it is a nice film of true love...even though it is by BYU....

Forget crop circles

who carved the white horse of Uffington?

Stuff below the fold

The God Particle is cornered but elusive. Background here.

==========================
Mass Murderer Kim is dead....but few obits go into details.

and filling in the details by GetReligion....

“Mercurial and enigmatic longtime leader,” eh? Is that how they spell “murderous Communist dictator” these days? I guess so...I’m reminded of this old piece in The Guardian about the torture chambers Kim’s regime ran:

In the remote north-eastern corner of North Korea, close to the border of Russia and China, is Haengyong. Hidden away in the mountains, this remote town is home to Camp 22 - North Korea’s largest concentration camp, where thousands of men, women and children accused of political crimes are held.

Now, it is claimed, it is also where thousands die each year and where prison guards stamp on the necks of babies born to prisoners to kill them.

The piece goes through the first-hand testimonies from defectors about execution and torture, including gas chambers with chemical experiments run on humans. It tells of whole families put in glass chambers and gassed while scientists take notes.


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StrategyPage comments on Russia and the Chinese cyberwar.

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Mother Marianne who nursed lepers in Hawaii, and Kateri Tekawitha are okayed to be declared official saints.

Kateri is Native American, and was one reason that many Native Americans are Catholic...factoid of the day: The first mass in Idaho was said for the Native Americans there.

And I remember when I lived in New Mexico, and a local woman woke up shortly after her family made a novena to Kateri for her recovery...the doctors said it was the influenza medicine, not the prayers, but never mind...


Our Oklahoma church had a shrine to Kateri,

Mother Marianne is a minor character but a memorial one in this movie about Father Damien and the leper colony...it's a commercial, not a religious movie, so is actually worth watching...and yes, that is Faramir, and Peter O'Toole is in it too...



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also in the list is Cebu native Peter Calungsod, a Pinoy catechist who was martyred in the Marianas. more HERE.

Musical interlude of the day



an ancient lament to the babies of Bethlehem killed by Herod...

Many of the dead from the floods in the southern Philippines were sleeping children, swept away by the waters...

Monday, December 19, 2011

Angels on high


mage courtesy ESA/NASA

Musical interlude of the day

Flood in the south

Watch for all the PC to blame the floods that killed so many on "global warming".

But the real reason: corruption and incompetence. Illegal logging probably contributed to a lot of the mudslide deaths, for example, and that activity is allowed because someone took a bribel

from the Inquirer:

The absence of a flood warning, high tide, darkness and a false sense of security proved disastrous for people of northern Mindanao when Tropical Storm “Sendong” came over the weekend.

Add illegal logging, rapid urbanization and mining, and the result was deadly...


warnings went unheeded (prior rains didn't cause flash floods). The rivers were allowed to silt up. The illegal mining and logging removed trees that held the soil and absorbed water..resulting in landslide and flash floods... The pineapple plantations resulted in water running off, not being absorbed. And several dams/protective levees gave way...and many, worried that their homes would be robbed, refused to evacuate when warned, since previous floods didn't destroy the area.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Local news

the terrible typhoon hit the southern island, so we are okay (cloudy and mild rain only).

Full report HERE.

History lessons

Awhile back I linked to George Stuart, who makes intricate figurines of historical figures and tells stories about them.



An example of his monologues:



and LINK a monologue on Russia

the latest: Chinese history.



and he has a blog...

Musical interlude of the day

Mom's Rules take three


Photo source

Mom's rules take two


from Paperdollsstuff

Mom's Rules

If you get it out, put it up.
If you sleep on it, make it up.
If you wear it, hang it up.
If you drop it, pick it up.
If you dirty it, wash it.
If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If it rings, answer it.
If it barks, feed it.
If it cries, love it.

---from HomeSanctuary.

Quote of the day



Put simply, for too long we have been unwilling to distinguish right from wrong.

“Live and let live” has too often become “do what you please”.

Bad choices have too often been defended as just different lifestyles.

To be confident in saying something is wrong is not a sign of weakness, it’s a strength.

But we can’t fight something with nothing....

As President Obama wrote in the Audacity of Hope:

“…in reaction to religious overreach we equate tolerance with secularism, and forfeit the moral language that would help infuse our politics with larger meaning.”


Frankly, we need a lot less of the passive tolerance of recent years and a much more active, muscular liberalism.

A passively tolerant society says to its citizens, as long as you obey the law we will just leave you alone.

It stands neutral between different values.

But I believe a genuinely liberal country does much more; it believes in certain values and actively promotes them.

We need to stand up for these values.

To have the confidence to say to people – this is what defines us as a society…

…and that to belong here is to believe in these things.


David Cameron

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Ah, Romance

quick, ladies, before the copyright cops find it's there:

The Linda Hamilton TV show Beauty and the Beast is at Youtube:

Stuff below the fold

Name that country: Factoid of the day:

Public demonstrations against corruption or government policies have increased in the last two decades from under 8,000 a year, to over 180,000 a year.


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Factoid of the day take two:

Guess who can't predict anything about hurricanes?

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Rankin Bass' film of the story "Cricket on the hearth" is on youtube for your viewing enjoyment:


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don't fall in the hole photo of the day:



3D pictures

Craft item of the day

The Philippine symbol of Christmas is the Parol, the Christmas star.

Here is how to make a simple star:

Musical interlude of the day



Musical interlude of the day

SuperBubbles!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Musical interlude of the day (take Two)

Tips for the long holiday

Tips on how to cope with fatigue over the holiday from Homesanctuary:

be grateful, be graceful, and be thankful...

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I am bemused at all the newspaper articles on how to not gain weight over the holidays by "eating right" etc.

So the health police grinches will destroy your holiday fun with their guilt trips? Yet in the long run, they forget that holidays are part of life, and that there are more important things than being "healthy" by keeping your weight and cholesterol down.

A better approach is to remember:


1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;


And for Christians, remember: there is a time for feasting and a time for fasting....If you fast during Lent you will lose all that weight.



So ignore the health police and remember the reason for the season: That life is stronger than death, that family matters, and that the birth of a child is a reason for rejoicing.

Musical interlude of the day

Christmas 2.0




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(rejoice)

Hello Kitty item of the day

cute kawaii stuff - Epicute: Hello Kitty Pocket Pies
see more Must Have Cute


via dropdeadkawai

instructions on how to bake them at iHeartBaking

Monday, December 12, 2011

Food post of the day

Stop-Motion Biscuit Cake from Alan Travers on Vimeo.

Gift item of the day


An iPlunge phone stand










for your iPhone

Simbang Gabi

Simbang Gabi is the early morning mass ("misa de gallo") before the cock crows for 9 days before Christmas. Mass was held early so the farmers could attend before going to work in the fields.



usually it is full of people of all ages, and after mass, the young folks go to the square to socialize with each other.

Lolo usually attends the mass, but this year probably not, even though they have a late afternoon mass for folks who can't attend in the morning.

There was a big kerfuffle in NYCity about the custom, where the Cardinal said no masses outside of church and tried to shut down the celebration at the embassy/consulate there. But they settled the problem in the latest report.

Stuff below the fold

LATimes has a good article about the increase in the diagnosis of Autism and argues that it is from more diagnoses, not a higher rate of disease.

This is my observation too: Lots of the people in our ICF/MR who we sent to group homes would have been called autistic nowadays, and the few times I filled in as a doc in rich clinics, I was bemused at parents insisting their profoundly retarded child was really intelligent, and merely "autistic"...whereas in the poor clinics we knew our FAS kids were not autistic...

Since the movie "Rainman", it is socially acceptable to have an autistic child, but it is not PC to say the child is mentally disabled...
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Mixed marriages and mixed blood children in Asia?

Most countries were colonized and open, so here in the Philippines most of the elites have either Chinese or Spanish blood, but closed societies such as Japan and Korea frowned on these children (who alas were often born of US GI's and their temporary live in partner).

But now we see intermarriage increasing. ATimes Article on Korean men marrying other Asian women because they can't find wives to live in rural areas.

But- this film being made discusses how half Japanese children are coping, using those of mixed marriages from various parts of the world.


headsup TokyoMango who writes:


According to the filmmakers -- one of whom went to my my middle school -- one in 30 Japanese today are born to one non-Japanese parent.



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The world's smallest steam engine.

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Back to the future: Using a tourniquet in the Iraq war, using clotting bandages and fewer IV"s.

Apart from tourniquets, medics now carry gauze impregnated with clotting agents, big needles and catheters used to release air from chest wounds, and special tubes to create emergency airways through the throat or nose. US medics also undergo much more extensive training compared to previous eras, with 16 weeks of instruction.

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Norovirus vaccine in the works?

In the US, people don't realize how diarrhea disease is a major killer in much of the world, not just an inconvenience.

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MJ reports on Durban.

I'm ambivalent: The dirty little secret is that the idea to reimburse poor countries means enriching their politicians, not helping the poor...

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Univision interview with a Mexican student who infiltrated Iran's plan to destablize the western hemisphere.

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Sunday, December 11, 2011

Musical interlude of the day (take two)



Just lovely...

Musical Interlude of the day

star of Bethlehem



The Star of Bethlehem

I'm not up to analyzing, but here is an article on the Star of Bethlehem: LINK

and the Freeper Archeology post has lots of links about the subject, including these:

Just in time for Christmas, from the FRchives:

Spatula!

HomeSanctuary usually has a tip of the day on organizing thing, and today she discusses the lowly Spatula.

and the "Today's small thing" is to organize your kitchen utensils.

I no longer run the house (Joy is in charge here, and supervises the maid and cook), but it's a nice site for those of you who do.

And here is the classic commercial on Spatulas!:

Ancient Africa take two



As I study Bronze age Greek history, the problem is that I have to extend the study into the other places around that didn't get into my history books, a lot of which is controversial and still being rewritten by Archeologists.

I haven't done a lot of study on Africa yet, but like India, that is down on my list...

Factoid of the day

Alqaeda is hiding in the Wagacou forest.

For the last six months, troops from Mauritania and Mali have been seeking out and killing al Qaeda members hiding in the Wagadou Forest (actually a thousand hectares/2,500 acres of brush and treehttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs in a semi-desert area), which lies astride the border. Al Qaeda has apparently been there since early last year. The Wagadou Forest has become a way station for cocaine and hashish al Qaeda escorts from Guinea-Bissau to the Mediterranean coast. This, and kidnap ransoms, is how al Qaeda finances itself in West Africa these days.


map here.

I didn't know that there was a "forested" area (scrub bushes) in that area, but it has a long ancient history. as the home of the ancient Ghanhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifa empire.

The Ghana Empire or Wagadou Empire[1] (existed before c. 830 until c. 1235) was located in what is now southeastern Mauritania, and Western Mali. Complex societies had existed in the region since about 1500 BCE, and around Ghana's core region since about 300 CE. When Ghana's ruling dynasty began is uncertain, it is first mentioned in documentary sources around 830 CE by Al-Kwarizmi.[2] The introduction of the camel, which preceded Muslims and Islam by several centuries, brought about a gradual change in trade, and for the first time, the extensive gold, ivory trade, and salt resources of the region could be sent north and east to population centers in North Africa, the Middle East and Europe in exchange for manufactured goods.

Friday, December 09, 2011

Stuff below the fold

fans of Elizabeth Goudge might want to check Come Away with me blog, which has photos and prints of Wells Cathedral, where she grew up.

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Those who prefer more grit and violence might prefer John Ringo's the Last Centurian.

I got bored in the later book which was about combat etc., but the satire on how some in the gov't would handle an epidemic might alas be true: Bureaucrats tend to follow rules, not follow common sense... so staying within the budget and filling out the blanks by docs was considered more important than getting care for the patient.

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Advent Reading: Try the novel Quo Vadis, via Librivox.

The older version of the film is on you tube and most famous for Peter Ustinov's portrayal of Nero...



but if you can enjoy a movie with subtitles, check out the newer Polish version HERE. Sumptuous!

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FYI: I knew you could get Ebooks in several languages at Project Gutenburg, but now they also link to audiobooks and computer read audiobooks.

and Project Gutenburg now has music
and Sheetmusic.

I haven't downloaded them but it's free.

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last two books I read were Explosive 18 and Killing Lincoln...that blows my budget for awhile, at least until the kiosk gets some more used "new" best sellers...

Green story of the day

Atlas Obscura has an article on the Marsh Arabs
and their eco friendly reed houses.

EcoFriendBlog has an article about them HERE.
The houses vary from hovels to sturdier and more sophisticated houses


their marsh was deliberately destroyed by Saddam Hussein to punish them, and the US has helped to reestablish the ecosystem and way of life.

Their mudhif reed homes are sturdy and ecofriendly, and the design may date back to 3000 BC, and maybe even ancient Sumeria...a controversial article that documents their life before Saddam destroyed their way of life that includes lots of old photos HERE




an 1982 article is reprinted HERE.

more about the rebuilding HERE.

more about DNA studies of the Marsh Arab culture HERE.

Stuff below the fold

God Heart Android?

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Cyber attack could mess up world's oil supply.
....is this the reason for Duqu?

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StrategyPage analyzes the election in Egypt.

and remember this when you read Obama's recent anti Israel moves:


the Palestinians appear to be putting more faith in their propaganda campaign that portrays Palestinians as innocent victims of Israeli aggression. This plays well in most of the world, and is increasingly bringing diplomaticpressure on Israel to give the Palestinians whatever they want. The problem with this is that the Palestinians want the complete destruction of Israel.


more here.

Sigh.

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Missing children in India usually become street kids, but many end up as forced labor in factories or in the sex industry, but the end of the article does mention the organ trade.

The killing of children for organs is an old urban legend, started by the KGB 30 plus years ago (and commonly recycled to stop overseas adoptions or to demonize the west). However, one is glad that someone is trying to publicize the story.

and this is something to remember the next time you read about why buying organs should be legalized.

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"I know it's around here somewhere" quote of the day:


The head of bankrupt US brokerage firm MF Global, Jon Corzine, has told a congressional committee that he has no idea where its clients' money has gone.

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Bill Gates is helping China build cheap nuclear power plants.

I'm not sure I support this.... when Japan has problems, why do they think corrupt countries that supply shoddy goods to the third world will be able to keep these programs safe?

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EEK Jumping Cockroaches.

Thursday, December 08, 2011

A history of flooring

link floors in Jane austen's day

More HERE. and HERE.

Craft item of the day

Buttercup miniatures is posting an Advent calendar with parts of a pattern each day.


more minipatterns HERE

alas, I've gotten away from small crochet (the needles are too small to hold in this heat and I only have the specialized large handle hooks for full sized wool). But if you live in a cooler climate, they might interest you.

Family news

I'm taking the day off of blogging...still with a nasty cold..

Musical Interlude of the day

Wednesday, December 07, 2011

Remembering the good old days

Civil war reenactments are big in some areas, and the men reenact the battles.

But what about the ladies?

how did a fashionable woman dress in 1860?
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif


more here, with links to places to find patterns.

Advent prayers

As I get older, I rely more on my mp3 player than on reading for prayers. My eyes tire easily nowadays.

So if you are interested in prayer type podcasts or Apps for Advent/pre Christmas tuneup, here are a few links:

The Divine Office. for mp3 and Universalis for written downloads.

the ancient Catholic prayer of several Psalms and a short biblical reading for various times during the day.

The Anglican version from the Book of Common Prayer is HERE.

For a more fuzzy/touchyfeely approach to prayer (Catholic) try PrayAsYouGo.

But I prefer the old fashioned ones: it's amazing that folks 2500 years ago had the same problems as we have now...

Musical interlude of the day

The "WAGD" post of the day

What do you do when an asteroid is headed your way?

Astronomycast discusses the Torino scale. podcast link

more HERE. and HERE

Dr. Doom (Dr, David Morrison) discusses the problem here.

Remember Pearl Harbor and the Philippines and Malaysia

Pearl Harbor anniversary is coming up (Here in the Philippines, the attack was December 8),

The usual conspiracy theories are again being rumored that Roosevelt "knew" about Pearl Harbor but did nothing.

Austin Bay
, a military analyst, reminds the paranoid that "intelligence" isn't always clear, but resembles a puzzle: And that the "knowledge" of a plot might be misinterpreted because the source is suspicious or unclear, but especially because those analyzing the big picture might lack imagination.

FDR’s security agencies had cracked the Japanese diplomatic communications code. America knew Japan was mulling an attack to the south, perhaps on the Dutch East Indies. Seizing the Indies’ oilfields to ensure energy supplies for Japan’s industry and armed forces made eminent strategic sense.

An “attack to the south” became a powerful interpretive pattern...

In the midst of events, the significance of an intercepted coded Imperial Japanese Navy radio transmission indicating a fleet can be missed, especially if it didn’t fit a logically convincing (though preconceived) pattern. American strategists knew an attack on Pearl Harbor by carrier aircraft was possible, and they believed Japan might well expand its war. Their imaginative insight, however, was incomplete. They underestimated Japanese imagination and audacity.




so the New Mexico National Guard, became the 200th Coast Artillery, was sent to Manila to protect Clark in August, anticipating an attack to the south. They also had an advantage, since many of them spoke Spanish.
Back then, most of the elites here still spoke and learned Spanish; that is not true nowadays...most of the old Spanish customs seem to be dying out...

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

Musical interlude of the day

Blast from the past

Most of these come from the GGG list on Free Republic, a right wing site that allows non political discussions. Since their discussions may include other links (and won't disappear quickly) I include their link, but some work computers won't allow access.

Harappa bones show violence. FRLINK.

I follow the Harappa news because it may lead to the rewrite of ancient history, and there are questions of it's relationship with the ancient myths of India. They have a script which is not deciphered, but some think it is that of the language of southern India, not of the Aryan invaders...

But the myth of the utopian peaceful ancients is getting another blow with the report. First the Mayan, then the Minoans were found to be warlike, and now the Harappans' cemetaries show women and cripples had signs of trauma.

This lecture series from Yale discusses the presence of violence in apes and then early civilizations based on skeletans, and isn't very hopeful that mankind has changed a lot in 100 thousand years.

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Bronze age man in Europe apparently ate nettle soup.
FRLINK


The trick is to grab them hard, so the nettles don't sting your hand (or use gloves). Nettle soup recipe here.

and nettles were used to make rope and fabric. LINK and as medicine: more HERE.

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Is there a second inscription saying the Mayan end of the world is in 2012? FRLINK

Or maybe not...
Well, these prophecies tend to be local, (the end of their world) so why worry. My problem is that when folks see these things discussed seriously on Nat Geo and .Discovery channel etc. they take them seriously..



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The Ethiopian Ark of the Covenant is back in the news FRLINK

The reason I say that this is the Ethiopian one is that I suspect the real one is hidden in the unexplored caves below the Temple Mount...

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Did ancient men go deep sea fishing?

and TUNA! it is what's for lunch.

Another sign that the end of the world is nigh


HelloKitty Bacon


(headsup HelloKittyHell)

Monday, December 05, 2011

Family news

I'm fighting off a chest cold with wheezing. I took my inhaler and prednisone for the wheezing then was up half the night with the munchies. Luckily There were leftovers.

The heavy rain last night leaked through the new roof, so all of our overhead lights are shorted out. Luckily we rewired the sockets two years ago so they work for lights, tv and aircon.

cat
see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Sunday, December 04, 2011

Question of the week

Who made Duqu, why did it go quiet, and what will they use it for?

more HERE

Musical interlude of the day



Halina, Hesus, halina
Halina, Hesus, halina!

Sa simula isinaloob Mo,
O D’yos, kaligtasan ng tao
Sa takdang panahon ay tinawag Mo
Isang bayang lingkod sa Iyo.

Gabay ng Iyong bayang hinirang
Ang pag-asa sa Iyong Mesiya.
“Emmanuel” ang pangalang bigay sa Kanya:
“Nasa atin ang D’yos tuwina.”

Isinilang S’ya ni Maria,
Birheng tangi, Hiyas ng Judea
At “Hesus” ang pangalang bigay sa Kanya:
“Aming D’yos ay Tagapagadya.”

Darating muli sa takdang araw,
Upang tanang tao’y tawagin
At sa puso Mo aming Ama’y bigkisin
Sa pag-ibig na di mamaliw.

Science lesson of the day

funny pictures - Chemistry Cat
see more Lolcats and funny pictures.

and the engineer says the problem is that you need a smaller glass.

Factoid of the day

Move over Superman:

From Strategypage:

December 3, 2011: For the last decade, the U.S. Army has used several generations of portable "see-through-the-wall" sensors. The Eagle series of sensors use low power ultra-wideband radio waves to detect what is behind walls (except metal ones)....



and then there is this on WiFi and using cameras in the field

of course, here in the rural Philippines, we've had internet cafes for years, and even our maids have cellphones. Texting is a national religion, and the latest fad is Angry Birds.

Which is probably why the Jihadis commissioned some Pinoy hackers to steal money for them.

FR has links to aspects of this story.

Insomnia downloads of the week

For you listening pleasure:

Short Non fiction collection number 24
includes such gems as:

  • Climatic Changes in the Southern Hemisphere by C. A. M. Taber – 00:09:47
    Source: E-text
    [mp3@64kbps - 4.6MB]
    [mp3@128kbps - 9.3MB]
    [ogg vorbis - 5.5MB]

  • Crito by Plato – 00:35:44
    Source: E-text
    [mp3@64kbps - 17.1MB]
    [mp3@128kbps - 34.3MB]
    [ogg vorbis - 17.5MB]


  • Geraniums by Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition – 00:10:58
    Source: E-text
    [mp3@64kbps - 5.2MB]
    [mp3@128kbps - 10.5MB]
    [ogg vorbis - 5.3MB]

  • and for those thousands of you who are running for office:
  • On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying by Mark Twain – 00:16:43
    Source: E-text
    [mp3@64kbps - 8.0MB]
    [mp3@128kbps - 16.0MB]
    [ogg vorbis - 8.2MB]

  • they also have these longer books to put you to sleep at night


    Sixteenth-century Bristol by Latimer, John


    History of Standard Oil: Volume 1, The by Tarbell, Ida


    Short Poetry Collection 102 by Various


    Short Ghost and Horror Collection 015 by Various

    or for the holiday season:

    Christmas short works 2010
    ..
    2009
    2008

    this last one includes the best modern Christmas story of all:
    English – The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry – 00:16:08
    Source: E-text
    [mp3@64kbps - 7.7MB]
    [mp3@128kbps - 15.4MB]
    [ogg vorbis - 8.5MB]

    Saturday, December 03, 2011

    Tick Tick Tick Tick




    transcript


    and I thought Art Bell was paranoid...

    Attention kids

    You Don't want to practice your violin before going outside to play? Tell your mom your violin is dangerous:


    Mad cow disease fears over violin strings threatens works of Handel and Bach


    Musicians have warned that the works of Purcell, Handel, Vivaldi and Bach may never again be heard as their composers intended – because of EU rules to stop people catching "mad cow disease" from their instruments.


    headsup Orwell's picnic.

    Heartwarming story of the day


    LINK

    This year (at the Thanksgiving feast) it was Royanne’s mother, sisters and brother, as well as the families of four of the Avegnos’ five surviving children —­­­­ all but one delivered into the hands of a couple who, in the course of a 40-year marriage,
    adopted seven children.

    Of the adopted seven, young Ashton, or “Benjy” to the family, was their single traditional adoption. He came into the family after Royanne gave birth to a stillborn second child, Laurie, and learned that Jennifer, their first-born, would be their only biological child.

    Greg, malnourished and psychologically scarred by privation, came from Korea. Meg and Jeremy, mixed-race children who were both hard to place, came when the Avegnos said yes to adoption agencies’ pleas.

    They were in court completing Jeremy’s adoption when, out of the blue, a Jefferson Parish judge asked whether they would consider taking Matthew, a profoundly brain-damaged newborn. The Avegnos discussed it over lunch, and they said yes a few hours later. ...



    Royanne and Bubby Avegno, bottom left, and top back right, feed family and friends on Thanksgiving at their home in River Ridge.


    Headsup Getreligion

    yum

    cute kawaii stuff - Epicute: Flower Bento
    see more Must Have Cute

    Friday, December 02, 2011

    Night


    That shinning moon - watched by one faint star:
    Sure now am I, beyond the fear of change,
    The lovely in life is the familiar,
    And only the lovelier for continuing strange.

    ---Walter De La Mare
    Posted by Picasa


    photo credit NASA

    Recipe of the day

    From Home Sanctuary:


    Nutella Banana egg rolls from the Ambush Cook.


    and she bakes them, not deep frying them.

    Link

    History stuff below the fold

    Heritage key posted this video of King Tut (there is a Tut exhibit going around the UK).



    and then there is this, about those cute Aryan girls.
    -------------------

    Andrew Cusack notes the difference in what is taken to the space shuttle by British and by Russian astronauts...

    we sent dull pop music and bad art, the Russians have one-upped us again. To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the first man in space, they’ve taken an icon of Our Lady of Kazan aboard the Soyuz TMA-24 mission.





    and comments They will bury us, but it will be a Christian funeral.

    more on the icon HERE.
    -------------------------

    Futuregirl reviews a book on crochet in Jane Austen, and includes a pattern for the sweater in "Becoming Jane".

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

    A historian reviews a book on how German mythology, new age type ideas, and modern "science" (i.e. eugenics) mixed to make a powerful Nazi ideology.
    --------------------------

    Remembering the battle of Marathon.
    ---------------------------------

    Thursday, December 01, 2011

    Family news


    there is an Article in the local paper about Daisy LINK






    .



    .

    Another sign that the end of the world is nigh


    You can buy this at Amazon:

    HELLO KITTY LOLITA BLOW MOLD ORNAMENT SET OF 3

    The "WAGD" post of the day

    US to bail out euro.

    Freakonomics has a forum on what is happening and what it means.

    Soros take from last year.

    BBC take of the problem.

    ah, but what about China?

    The right wing blogosphere are planning to go into "survivalist" mode, buying guns and food.

    Here we will have rice to eat, but no guns. Just a machete and George our Killer dog.

    Sigh.

    Monsters of the id and other trivial questions

    hippies now using hallucinogens to "feel one with the universe" and say docs need to use more of these drugs to "cure" the anxiety of the hippie narcissists.

    Is this medical treatment, or just new age faith healing?

    I suspect the latter, because no side effects or problems mentioned, and even placebos have side effects.

    Another question: what about the dangers of envoking the
    "monsters of the id"...
    we saw a lot of this in the "free drug" folks of the 1960's, which is why even the hippies stopped using hallucinogens.

    full rant moved to my xanga blog.

    ------------------------------------
    Factoid of the day The term "monsters of the id" comes from the classic sci fi movie Forbidden planet was based on Shakespeare's the Tempest, and starred Anne Francis and Leslie Nielsen...and introduced the world to Robbie the Robot....all three of them went on to distinguished acting careers...

    Factoid of the day two: The Tempest might have been inspired by the wreck of the Sea Venture on Bermuda...and a more fascinating story is how that shipwreck resulted in saving the colony of Jamestown.

    Summary: The shipwrecked folk rebuilt boats and took supplies to Jamestown, helping them to survive.

    Lesson one: don't make the fairies angry



    LINK\
    Sean Quinn’s dramatic fall from grace as Ireland’s richest man is down to the fairies – and his decision to move a megalithic tomb, according to a neighbor.

    Now down to just $15,000 in his bank account, Quinn has lost a business empire worth billions and is officially bankrupt.

    Experts believe his decision to gamble on Anglo Irish Bank shares brought about his financial downfall.

    But one neighbor in the Cavan town of Ballyconnell believes that Quinn’s problems can be traced back to his removal of a megalithic burial tomb 20 years ago (To expand his company's quarry)...