We had a family Christmas.
Chano cooked...for "buena noche", we had pizza, soup and salad...and for christmas noon dinner we had macaroni Alfredo with salad.
We grow the lettuce on our organic farm...inside greenhouses of plastic wrap. So it's safe to eat.
Christmas morning, we went to early mass and then spent two hours giving out 5peso coins to all the neighboring kids who go door to door for gifts on Christmas. We also gave the moms 20 pesos. About 10 am we ran out of money and locked the door, except for the usual beggars and for staff who came to say Merry Christmas.
I should explain we have a few beggars whose "job" is begging...they are not destitute but poor and supplement the income. We also have a few old people who we help with their medicines. Medicines here are expensive: Amlodipine is 8 peso generic, for example, which isn't much but it does add up, especially for farmers who eat their own food and don't have much cash income...and artificial tears is 250 a bottle (for a distant relative with "dry eyes" and mild sjorgen's syndrome). Some people come for free rice: we usually give the out of date rice, which is still good but is past the shelf life.
For Christmas supper, we went to Angie's: lots of shrimp, mussels, and barbecue...she also had ham...which is a tradition for Christmas.
The ham was fresh, not canned, and delicious, but since Ruby wasn't used to it (it didn't taste like the local "tocino") I ate hers too.
when I rant about helping the poor, it doesn't mean I am a puritan: balance is needed. I mean, Jesus' first miracle was to supply wine for a wedding feast.
There is a time for everything: a time to be born, a time to die, a time to laugh, a time to mourn...
FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Merry Christmas...
Spirituality as a "warm fuzzy" feeling? Bah humbug.
"Evolving to a higher power"? Bah Humbug
Christmas nativities as pristine babies in warm "manger" scenes"? Bah Humbug.
The reality is that when the God of the universe decided to save humanity from their pride, he chose to be born among the "least of these"...
No, our area in the Philippines was not destroyed by Yolanda, but we were badly hit by an ordinary typhoon two weeks earlier, which destroyed much of the almost ripe rice, so the next few months will be hunger months for many people in this area.
Silent Night Holy Night
All is calm all is bright
Round yon virgin Mother and child
Holy infant so pleasant and mild
Sleep in Heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace.
link
LINK
LINK
"Evolving to a higher power"? Bah Humbug
Christmas nativities as pristine babies in warm "manger" scenes"? Bah Humbug.
The reality is that when the God of the universe decided to save humanity from their pride, he chose to be born among the "least of these"...
No, our area in the Philippines was not destroyed by Yolanda, but we were badly hit by an ordinary typhoon two weeks earlier, which destroyed much of the almost ripe rice, so the next few months will be hunger months for many people in this area.
Silent Night Holy Night
All is calm all is bright
Round yon virgin Mother and child
Holy infant so pleasant and mild
Sleep in Heavenly peace
Sleep in heavenly peace.
link
LINK
LINK
Monday, December 23, 2013
Audiobook of the day
Depressed?
Download, rip to mp3, and listen...and try not to laugh too hard.
and yes, I have the book...
Download, rip to mp3, and listen...and try not to laugh too hard.
and yes, I have the book...
Airport security? What airport security?
Another politician shot...right outside of the local terminal of NAIA in Manila.
Catching up on stories
this one for further reading, about the Duck family, via Instapundit.
a bit cynical, don't ya think...I wasn't aware the show was a hit...
I've only watched short parts of it a few times (we often get programs months to years later...for example, Lady Mary just got married on Downton Abbey) so I don't have an opinion on the show: But I do appreciate all the honest, hardworking redneck reality shows on TV here, to counteract the sexual gyrations on MTV, not to mention all those shows and movies that make foreigners think all Americans are lazy, rich, criminals or sluts...
---------------------
Freakonomics podcast on the Pope.
TYWKIWDBI on why drug testing people on welfare is not cost effective:
the problem of assuming all poor folks are druggies, (and of course there is also the problem of false positive tests).
someone once said that Harlem had the same crime/drug/murder/divorce rate as Hollywood; that was years ago, but I suspect it continues to be true.
But rich folks can cover it up...
-------------------------
Also from TYWKIWDBI: why facebook didn't pay any taxes.
it is a shell game.
And here I am worried that I will have to pay taxes because I cashed in on a little of my retirement savings to help with expenses here (after the typhoon wiped us out). Sigh.
------------------------------
FYI: Lawrence of Arabia was an anthropologist.
-------------------------------
Celtic Christmas music links
-------------------------
Christmas Bentos on Pinterest
I'd post on facebook but they require you to let them know your friends and contacts.
Why worry about the NSA when Pinterest and Facebook and voter data bases know who you are?
“The surprise should be how liberals dismissed the rise of Duck Dynasty until this fall, when it was too late to stem the show’s popularity. Once it became evident that this family held so much influence, the left suddenly realized they faced the first threat to their decades-long monopoly on popular culture.”
a bit cynical, don't ya think...I wasn't aware the show was a hit...
I've only watched short parts of it a few times (we often get programs months to years later...for example, Lady Mary just got married on Downton Abbey) so I don't have an opinion on the show: But I do appreciate all the honest, hardworking redneck reality shows on TV here, to counteract the sexual gyrations on MTV, not to mention all those shows and movies that make foreigners think all Americans are lazy, rich, criminals or sluts...
---------------------
Freakonomics podcast on the Pope.
--------------------
Sachs doesn’t always sound like an economist when he talks about how the economy should work:
SACHS: First let me say I am a believer in a market economy … and I would imagine Pope Francis, too, is a believer in a market economy, but what the Church has taught … is the idea that an economy needs a moral framework. This is a very, very basic idea that we have mostly discarded but that I believe in.
TYWKIWDBI on why drug testing people on welfare is not cost effective:
the problem of assuming all poor folks are druggies, (and of course there is also the problem of false positive tests).
Critics also say the policy is based on the false perception that large numbers of welfare recipients are using illegal drugs. A new analysis by the state Department of Human Services (DHS) found that participants in Minnesota’s welfare program for low-income families are actually far less likely to have felony drug convictions than the adult population as a whole...
someone once said that Harlem had the same crime/drug/murder/divorce rate as Hollywood; that was years ago, but I suspect it continues to be true.
But rich folks can cover it up...
-------------------------
Also from TYWKIWDBI: why facebook didn't pay any taxes.
it is a shell game.
And here I am worried that I will have to pay taxes because I cashed in on a little of my retirement savings to help with expenses here (after the typhoon wiped us out). Sigh.
------------------------------
FYI: Lawrence of Arabia was an anthropologist.
-------------------------------
Celtic Christmas music links
-------------------------
Christmas Bentos on Pinterest
I'd post on facebook but they require you to let them know your friends and contacts.
Why worry about the NSA when Pinterest and Facebook and voter data bases know who you are?
Sources with knowledge of the initiatives describe them to POLITICO as:------------------------
1. A 50-state voter file that will merge granular historical data for every registered voter in the country with social media and email information being collected by Ready for Hillary. While the super PAC intends to deploy the new database as early as January to mobilize supporters, its real utility would come in building and executing a model of voter coalitions and messages to win a presidential campaign.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
The weird stuff around the net
A big kerfuffle about Pajamaboy.
EdDriscoll has this that about sums it up:
hmm...at age 26, I was the only doc at a 100 bed hospital in rural Africa.
So don't expect me to be sympathetic to a guy who won't get a job.
--------------------------------------
the entire Duck Dynasty kerfuffle is about "reeducating" America:
.. As Father Z points out, when the NYTimes eulogizes a pornographer, you know times have changed.
and to make things worse, the US State Dept and much of the UN is pushing this agenda on other countries... for example, the NYTimes laments that the survivors of Tacloban aren't getting condoms or morning after pills with their emergency relief supplies.
----------------------------
The Pope instructs the Curia: Stop gossiping.
----------------------------------------------------
StrategyPage discusses security related headlines of the year.
not only does Obama have a failed Middle East policy, but China is preparing to take over the west Philippine sea.
-------------------------------
China wants to claim the earliest cat domestication (3300bc). But were they local cats, or traded in from the Middle East? DNA testing is pending...
The DNA of modern cats suggests the cats were already domesticated in Egypt by 3500 BC,
and cats were buried with their owners in a Cyprus grave from 9500 BC...
-------------------------
EdDriscoll has this that about sums it up:
hmm...at age 26, I was the only doc at a 100 bed hospital in rural Africa.
So don't expect me to be sympathetic to a guy who won't get a job.
--------------------------------------
the entire Duck Dynasty kerfuffle is about "reeducating" America:
He put it in terms of where do we draw the line--a question raised here before. Once we say, legally, that marriage is not defined as between a man and a woman, all bets are off on what arrangements are acceptable--and the courts, as predicted, have begun to reflect that.
.. As Father Z points out, when the NYTimes eulogizes a pornographer, you know times have changed.
and to make things worse, the US State Dept and much of the UN is pushing this agenda on other countries... for example, the NYTimes laments that the survivors of Tacloban aren't getting condoms or morning after pills with their emergency relief supplies.
----------------------------
The Pope instructs the Curia: Stop gossiping.
----------------------------------------------------
StrategyPage discusses security related headlines of the year.
not only does Obama have a failed Middle East policy, but China is preparing to take over the west Philippine sea.
-------------------------------
China wants to claim the earliest cat domestication (3300bc). But were they local cats, or traded in from the Middle East? DNA testing is pending...
The DNA of modern cats suggests the cats were already domesticated in Egypt by 3500 BC,
But recent genetic and archaeological discoveries indicate that cat domestication began in the Fertile Crescent, perhaps around 10,000 years ago, when agriculture was getting under way.
and cats were buried with their owners in a Cyprus grave from 9500 BC...
-------------------------
Insomnia downloads of the day
Librivox has short Christmas short stories for your listening pleasure...
They also have the original stories in this collection: Check out Matthew and Luke. and more stuff here.
Catholics always believe Luke got the story from Jesus' mom, since twice he notes "she pondered these things in her heart": and she is about the only one who would know that.
and here in Asia, the word "christmas" is not taboo: even in the Buddhist Japan and the atheistic China they celebrate the secular holiday.
Here in the Philippines, it is a religious holiday, and everyone goes home to visit family...so the whole place essentially shuts down for a week.
--------------------
Pseudo astronomy podcast debunks a lot of the fanciful explanations for the Christmas star.
Since the Magi were zorastrian astrologists from Persia, I suspect it was a planetary conjuction, not a comet or supernova, and outside the expertise of scientific astronomy. One problem with the internet is that there is a lot of fake experts out there. Calling Professor Bulliet, the internet expert on Iran...
-------------------------------------
HistoryExtra has a podcast Christmas quiz. Haven't listened to it yet.
They also have the original stories in this collection: Check out Matthew and Luke. and more stuff here.
Catholics always believe Luke got the story from Jesus' mom, since twice he notes "she pondered these things in her heart": and she is about the only one who would know that.
and here in Asia, the word "christmas" is not taboo: even in the Buddhist Japan and the atheistic China they celebrate the secular holiday.
Here in the Philippines, it is a religious holiday, and everyone goes home to visit family...so the whole place essentially shuts down for a week.
--------------------
Pseudo astronomy podcast debunks a lot of the fanciful explanations for the Christmas star.
Since the Magi were zorastrian astrologists from Persia, I suspect it was a planetary conjuction, not a comet or supernova, and outside the expertise of scientific astronomy. One problem with the internet is that there is a lot of fake experts out there. Calling Professor Bulliet, the internet expert on Iran...
-------------------------------------
HistoryExtra has a podcast Christmas quiz. Haven't listened to it yet.
Family news
Busy time here.
Joy is still doing deliveries for special Christmas rice packages. Some of the specialty rices we sell were destroyed in the typhoon, so we had to import them from other organic farmers and pack them before delivery.
Did you know that there is black rice and red rice? The black rice is actually purplish and glutinous and often used for sweets. An example of a common dish is found here.
The red rice is popular for Chinese New year. We often mix a little to our regular rice to give it a nutty flavor...
And then we have the various types of ordinary organically grown brown rice. Yum...Basmati.
Yesterday afternoon was the Christmas party for staff...low key this year because we and everyone else is short of money: just pancit and cake, and a small Christmas bonus.
Sigh.
Joy is still doing deliveries for special Christmas rice packages. Some of the specialty rices we sell were destroyed in the typhoon, so we had to import them from other organic farmers and pack them before delivery.
Did you know that there is black rice and red rice? The black rice is actually purplish and glutinous and often used for sweets. An example of a common dish is found here.
The red rice is popular for Chinese New year. We often mix a little to our regular rice to give it a nutty flavor...
And then we have the various types of ordinary organically grown brown rice. Yum...Basmati.
Yesterday afternoon was the Christmas party for staff...low key this year because we and everyone else is short of money: just pancit and cake, and a small Christmas bonus.
Sigh.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Family news
Joy is doing deliveries and meetings in Manila.
I am busy with shopping etc.
Lolo can't visit the dogs because the driver is in Manila with Joy...I hope he doesn't insist on going there in a tricycle because it is hot and humid. Sigh.
I am busy with shopping etc.
Lolo can't visit the dogs because the driver is in Manila with Joy...I hope he doesn't insist on going there in a tricycle because it is hot and humid. Sigh.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Stories below the fold
World experiences hottest November in 134 years – NOAA
HEAVY SNOW WARNING: Shock long range UK weather forecast for winter 2013
BRITAIN faces months of freezing winds and heavy snow as long-range forecasters predict a “horror winter” ahead.
November Was Cold, But the Climate Keeps Warming
The problem is pollution: But the "global warming" religion is a scam so the elite can make a one world order.The U.S. has seen more record cold days than record warm days this year. But globally, the climate is still changing—and it's not getting cooler.
and if you question them, even in satire, they will sue you.
----------------------
Related item: The Anchoress comment on a recent court case about the First Amendment vs Obamacare:
Dude! Judge Cogan apparently thinks the Constitution is, like, relevant, even in the age of Obamacare, where laws can just be changed, over and over again, on you know…whims and stuff!
------------------------------------
Change the constitution so that bills can be passed easier.
But of course, the dirty little secret is that it will make it easier for the elite to take charge and ignore those horrible people like the tea party types.
Frankly, you guys terrify us, you and your damn fascist Tea Parties. Is there anything more frightening than seas of grandmothers waving American flags and singing “patriotic” songs?Yup...that's a pretty frightening photo.
And since the military took an oath to defend the constitution, if you change the constitution, the oaths are void.
------------------------
uh oh: Irish Immigrants are coming... and lots of them are illegal.
Lots of illegal Pinoys in the US too...
but my son can't even get a visa to visit, because they know he will probably find a job and stay for awhile.
Headlines below the fold
the WAGD report of the day: mystery Illness in Texas (via Drudge)
if it was west Texas, I'd say it was Hanta virus, (we had an outbreak in northern NM and one case in Carrizoso when I worked in the area) but east Texas has a wetter climate...
---------------------
Tech company executives want to discuss NSA spying, but Obama discusses Obamacare.
Luckily it was the heads of the companies: if it was the designers, the nerds would have walked out on him.
and since this IS from the UKMail, the article mentions that Biden has wandering hands.
---------------------
addicted to video games? A problem in Asia...but they are good at training soldiers to react faster in emergency situations.
and one suspects similar "games" will help docs in emergencies...I used to have a disc with CPR situations...if you made a mistake, everyone turned to you and said :You killed him. Better to make your mistakes on the computer than in the ER.
---------------------------------
Bumper sticker of the day:
via Father Z.
a Pellagian is one who thinks men are born without any tendency to do evil, so they can make it into heaven by doing good deeds: sort of "I'm okay you're okay" with hormones.
the problem: it implies: "but the rest of you are schmucks who are beneath our contempt"....
Come to think of it, that sardonic jewish carpenter told a story making fun of these types.
------------------------------
The newest hero: Themistocles??
yesterday, at the movies, we saw a lot of previews of superhero movies, and then we saw the preview of the up and coming film 300, the rise of an empire. and there was Themistocles...who along with Gorgo, the Spartan queen, was opposing the dictatorship of the multi pierced thug Xerxes.
Ruby was mad because they also made a woman the "bad guy" (Artemesia), helping the evil Persians, but I had to tell her to blame Herodotus, since he wrote the story.
And, of course, the irony is that if Xerxes had followed her advice, Greece would have lost the war...
-------------------------------
The PC are trying to eliminate "evil white men" 'and "western culture" from education, but between 300 (Herodotus), the Hobbit (Beowulf), Thor (the Icelandic sagas), and Percy Jackson (Greek and Roman mythology), they are finding out about it anyway.
Now, if they only could make a decent film about a heroic Christian...yes, there are a few such films (the Mission comes to mind) but most films with the label "Christian" have stiff acting and plots that out saccharine the films on the Hallmark channel...
---------------------------
if it was west Texas, I'd say it was Hanta virus, (we had an outbreak in northern NM and one case in Carrizoso when I worked in the area) but east Texas has a wetter climate...
---------------------
Tech company executives want to discuss NSA spying, but Obama discusses Obamacare.
Luckily it was the heads of the companies: if it was the designers, the nerds would have walked out on him.
and since this IS from the UKMail, the article mentions that Biden has wandering hands.
---------------------
addicted to video games? A problem in Asia...but they are good at training soldiers to react faster in emergency situations.
and one suspects similar "games" will help docs in emergencies...I used to have a disc with CPR situations...if you made a mistake, everyone turned to you and said :You killed him. Better to make your mistakes on the computer than in the ER.
---------------------------------
Bumper sticker of the day:
a Pellagian is one who thinks men are born without any tendency to do evil, so they can make it into heaven by doing good deeds: sort of "I'm okay you're okay" with hormones.
the problem: it implies: "but the rest of you are schmucks who are beneath our contempt"....
Come to think of it, that sardonic jewish carpenter told a story making fun of these types.
------------------------------
The newest hero: Themistocles??
yesterday, at the movies, we saw a lot of previews of superhero movies, and then we saw the preview of the up and coming film 300, the rise of an empire. and there was Themistocles...who along with Gorgo, the Spartan queen, was opposing the dictatorship of the multi pierced thug Xerxes.
Ruby was mad because they also made a woman the "bad guy" (Artemesia), helping the evil Persians, but I had to tell her to blame Herodotus, since he wrote the story.
And, of course, the irony is that if Xerxes had followed her advice, Greece would have lost the war...
-------------------------------
The PC are trying to eliminate "evil white men" 'and "western culture" from education, but between 300 (Herodotus), the Hobbit (Beowulf), Thor (the Icelandic sagas), and Percy Jackson (Greek and Roman mythology), they are finding out about it anyway.
Now, if they only could make a decent film about a heroic Christian...yes, there are a few such films (the Mission comes to mind) but most films with the label "Christian" have stiff acting and plots that out saccharine the films on the Hallmark channel...
---------------------------
The Hobbit
We finally got to see the Hobbit yesterday (twice before we arrived only to find they had changed the time of the show so we postponed seeing it).
My take? Faster and better than number one, that is if you like fast adventure movies (but as a Tolkien fan, I loved the songs)... But without a good ending, it left one feeling incomplete.
In other words, unlike number one (and unlike the Two Towers in LOTR triology, where Sam ties together the battles and the coming ones with the "window" speech) it doesn't really end, it gives one a "wait till the next episode" feeling...
but it was worth it, even in 2D
My take? Faster and better than number one, that is if you like fast adventure movies (but as a Tolkien fan, I loved the songs)... But without a good ending, it left one feeling incomplete.
In other words, unlike number one (and unlike the Two Towers in LOTR triology, where Sam ties together the battles and the coming ones with the "window" speech) it doesn't really end, it gives one a "wait till the next episode" feeling...
but it was worth it, even in 2D
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Headlines below the fold
A bus fell off the skyway here in the Philippines and 18 killed.
sigh. Bald tires and rain led to hydroplaning...so who is at fault: the driver who went too fast, the bus operator who didn't keep the buses in good repair, or the gov't for making inadequate railings to stop such things?
----------------------------------
related item: I just bought some LPG gas to cook, and found the cost had skyrocketed. "there is a "shortage" (?) so the price is up even in the areas hit by the typhoon.
The alternative to LPG gas is wood: so more coughing kids, and home fires.
and since diesel/gasoline are also going up, it means higher tricycle fares/lower wages for tricycle drivers, and higher prices for fuel to use the handplow at the same time folks are planting the second crop of rice (and can't afford to pay because the last crop was destroyed by our typhoon, which hit two weeks earlier than the big one). They use "Hand plows" to till the fields before planting.
I suspect we'll be asked for a lot of "vale" (early payment of salaries) or loans when the "hunger season" starts, before the next harvest comes. Sigh.
However, it hasn't stopped shopping in the Palenke, which is full of shops and people yesterday, when the weekly market was running. This is good, since a lot of small kiosk owners lost their stock in the flooding and may finally break even.
--------------------------------------
The latest Colorado school shooter was not only a socialist, but was stopped by an armed guard at the school.
--------------------------------
All your phone calls belongs to us? No, says a court.
thanks to Snowdon we know about this. Too bad it wasn't discussed before the last election.
Come to think of it, a lot of things weren't discussed during the last election cycle...Benghazi, Obama care's regulations, plans to stop Iranian sanctions, the fact that many "regulations" that will affect Americans would be made and implemented after the election...and that these regulations would be made by bureaucrats, not congress...
--------------------------------------
Rightwing blogger Gateway pundit links to a story saying that Obama plans to divide Jerusalem and have the place run by the Saudis.
And if you think the Israelis will be mad, just wait until the Russian Orthodox church finds out that the Vatican is part of this. Putin won't stand for it...
--------------------------
for later reading:
StrategyPage on Iran
the Israelis and Arabs are angry at the "recklessness" of the Obama administration. And if you read the whole thing, you will find Iran is sending their fanatics to Assad, to counter the fanatics on the other side.
The Brits are lamenting it is a catastrophe. Yeah. Welcome to the post American world that the European left wanted.
------------------------------------------------
related item: Why the Arab spring was a failure.
it's the culture, stupid. Clans and corruption and people used to dictatorships taking over.
Yet despite this, Iraq so far has become a democracy...but true stability might need an ethnic cleansing of the Sunnis who support terrorism...
---------------------------------------
sigh. Bald tires and rain led to hydroplaning...so who is at fault: the driver who went too fast, the bus operator who didn't keep the buses in good repair, or the gov't for making inadequate railings to stop such things?
----------------------------------
related item: I just bought some LPG gas to cook, and found the cost had skyrocketed. "there is a "shortage" (?) so the price is up even in the areas hit by the typhoon.
For this month, the price is around P900 per 11-kg. cylinder from the previous range of P680 to P760 per 11-kg. cylinder tank.
The alternative to LPG gas is wood: so more coughing kids, and home fires.
and since diesel/gasoline are also going up, it means higher tricycle fares/lower wages for tricycle drivers, and higher prices for fuel to use the handplow at the same time folks are planting the second crop of rice (and can't afford to pay because the last crop was destroyed by our typhoon, which hit two weeks earlier than the big one). They use "Hand plows" to till the fields before planting.
I suspect we'll be asked for a lot of "vale" (early payment of salaries) or loans when the "hunger season" starts, before the next harvest comes. Sigh.
However, it hasn't stopped shopping in the Palenke, which is full of shops and people yesterday, when the weekly market was running. This is good, since a lot of small kiosk owners lost their stock in the flooding and may finally break even.
--------------------------------------
The latest Colorado school shooter was not only a socialist, but was stopped by an armed guard at the school.
--------------------------------
All your phone calls belongs to us? No, says a court.
“I cannot imagine a more ‘indiscriminate’ and ‘arbitrary invasion’ than this systemic and high-tech collection and retention of personal data on virtually every single citizen for purposes of querying and analyzing it without prior judicial approval,” he wrote.and the White House is upset.
thanks to Snowdon we know about this. Too bad it wasn't discussed before the last election.
Come to think of it, a lot of things weren't discussed during the last election cycle...Benghazi, Obama care's regulations, plans to stop Iranian sanctions, the fact that many "regulations" that will affect Americans would be made and implemented after the election...and that these regulations would be made by bureaucrats, not congress...
--------------------------------------
Rightwing blogger Gateway pundit links to a story saying that Obama plans to divide Jerusalem and have the place run by the Saudis.
Wonderful: The Saudis, who won't allow a single church for the 2 million Christians working in that country.
The exact composition of the international mandate is up for discussion, the sources said, but Kerry’s plan recommended a coalition that includes the Vatican, together with a group of Muslim countries such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
And if you think the Israelis will be mad, just wait until the Russian Orthodox church finds out that the Vatican is part of this. Putin won't stand for it...
--------------------------
for later reading:
StrategyPage on Iran
the Israelis and Arabs are angry at the "recklessness" of the Obama administration. And if you read the whole thing, you will find Iran is sending their fanatics to Assad, to counter the fanatics on the other side.
The Brits are lamenting it is a catastrophe. Yeah. Welcome to the post American world that the European left wanted.
------------------------------------------------
related item: Why the Arab spring was a failure.
it's the culture, stupid. Clans and corruption and people used to dictatorships taking over.
Yet despite this, Iraq so far has become a democracy...but true stability might need an ethnic cleansing of the Sunnis who support terrorism...
---------------------------------------
Monday, December 16, 2013
Family news
I just emptied my tablet (camera). So here are a few photos
our small generator that helped us get through the typhoon when the electricity was off for two weeks
Ruby is growing up.
Local handicrafts designed by Chano and sold as gifts for Christmas.
Lolo and Angi
-----------------------
my son Mike and my granddaughter Christina
our small generator that helped us get through the typhoon when the electricity was off for two weeks
Lolo and Angi
my son Mike and my granddaughter Christina
For later reading
Monday tends to be busy...
So bookmarked for later reading
Never interview a dwarf
Headsup TORN
-----------------------------------
The (Jewish American) Diplomad says it's not a war against Christmas, it's a war against Joy.
---------------------------------
The "What goes up must come down" article of the day is about what happens when China launches a missile... on StrategyPage
---------------------
So bookmarked for later reading
Never interview a dwarf
Headsup TORN
-----------------------------------
The (Jewish American) Diplomad says it's not a war against Christmas, it's a war against Joy.
---------------------------------
The "What goes up must come down" article of the day is about what happens when China launches a missile... on StrategyPage
---------------------
Sunday, December 15, 2013
Some people have too much time on their hands post of the day
Greengrocer fills mini with Brussel Sprouts.
And he can now reveal that the answer to the poser - for those that have always wanted to know - is that it takes 38,182 sprouts to fill a Mini.
A Slough greengrocer spent a day finding out how many Brussels sprouts it takes to fill a Mini....
And he can now reveal that the answer to the poser - for those that have always wanted to know - is that it takes 38,182 sprouts to fill a Mini.
Factoid of the week
Every year, millions of Muslims make the Hajj to Mecca. Many in the southern Philippines get financial help from Muslim charities to do so.
So I was startled to read in WhispersInTheLoggia blog that the shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe has a lot more visitors (see earlier post about the pope and this shrine)
Wikipedia notes that 3.1 million made the pilgrimage in 2012.
so is this the pilgrimage site with the most visitors?
Not quite: From Travel and Leisure:
Number one is the Meiji shinto shrine in Japan.(30 million visitors a year)
Number two is Kashi Vishwanath Temple, a sacred site for Hindus in India.(21.9 Million)
Number three is the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico city (20 million)
I disagree with a lot of the sites mentioned in T/L: because a lot of them, like Notre Dame of Paris, are visited as museums, or visited by tourists who are visiting a lot of places, in contrast to these three, which are visited by those who go as an act of prayer.
and then there are repeat visits by locals: the shrine of Guadalupe for example estimates 10 million visitors per year. Well, this makes sense: A lot of us make repeated visits to shrines near our homes. I used to take my boys to the Fatima shrine in Gallitzen to say a rosary, and several times we went to the Lourdes grotto in Emmitsburg (where Mother Seton used to visit and pray) to hear mass.
And Lolo, like many OFW, made a yearly visit to our Lady of Good Voyage in Antipolo to thank her for his safety.
So I was startled to read in WhispersInTheLoggia blog that the shrine of our Lady of Guadalupe has a lot more visitors (see earlier post about the pope and this shrine)
Wikipedia notes that 3.1 million made the pilgrimage in 2012.
so is this the pilgrimage site with the most visitors?
Not quite: From Travel and Leisure:
Number one is the Meiji shinto shrine in Japan.(30 million visitors a year)
Number two is Kashi Vishwanath Temple, a sacred site for Hindus in India.(21.9 Million)
Number three is the shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in Mexico city (20 million)
I disagree with a lot of the sites mentioned in T/L: because a lot of them, like Notre Dame of Paris, are visited as museums, or visited by tourists who are visiting a lot of places, in contrast to these three, which are visited by those who go as an act of prayer.
and then there are repeat visits by locals: the shrine of Guadalupe for example estimates 10 million visitors per year. Well, this makes sense: A lot of us make repeated visits to shrines near our homes. I used to take my boys to the Fatima shrine in Gallitzen to say a rosary, and several times we went to the Lourdes grotto in Emmitsburg (where Mother Seton used to visit and pray) to hear mass.
And Lolo, like many OFW, made a yearly visit to our Lady of Good Voyage in Antipolo to thank her for his safety.
Saturday, December 14, 2013
Asking the really important question of the day
Wired asks: Should Dwarves stand up in floating barrels?
Well, at least Tolkien had the barrels sealed so they would float...
----------------
update: BoingBoing review notes that the coins in Smaug's lair were gold plated aluminum...
but aluminum is lighter than gold, so the Bilbo sliding around parts might or not be correct...
For a barrel that is partially submerged, I can find the center of mass of the submerged part (assuming straight walls). This would just be half way down from the water level to the bottom of the barrel. Since the the water level is at 0.77 meters above the bottom, the center of buoyancy would be at 0.385 meters.
This is bad. If the center of gravity is higher than the center of buoyancy (which is just barely) then the barrel can tip over.
But Thorin is standing in that barrel. Is he really that foolish? I don’t think so. What if Thorin’s barrel has 132 kg of gold instead of water? Since gold has a much higher density, the center of mass for this gold would be very close to the bottom of the barrel. This should be enough to bring the center of gravity lower than the center of buoyancy.
I bet Thorin stole that gold from the wood elves. No wonder they dislike him.
Well, at least Tolkien had the barrels sealed so they would float...
----------------
update: BoingBoing review notes that the coins in Smaug's lair were gold plated aluminum...
but aluminum is lighter than gold, so the Bilbo sliding around parts might or not be correct...
Health warning:
From the UKTelegraph:
Health warning: laughter could leave you in stitches
A review of the benefits of laughter in patients by Oxford University has found that far from being the best medicine, it can lead to heart ruptures, asthma attacks and incontinence
Headlines below the fold
China ups the threat matrix by trying to stop a US ship returning from helping after the typhoon...in international waters.
original link since Gateway is a political blog.
Headline in the Manila Bulletin: Philippines signs defense deal with Japan
The article mentions the 200thousand Pinoys working there...most are caregivers or work on ships but some have married local men.
China is not just grabbing land: They are grabbing areas that affect the air lanes near Japan and the sea lanes in the West Philippine sea that are vital for shipping to Japan and Korea.
-----------------------------
Hell might not be freezing over, but Jerusalem is expecting 20 inches of snow.
And this is causing power outages...sigh.
---------------------
Drudge includes a headline that notes the pope is still Catholic.
the Mexican Madonna shows a woman who is metziso, and dressed in local costume. She is also pregnant...so is not only the patron of the Americas but the patron of pro life causes, because in contrast to the female Aztec deity who was given human sacrifice she is our loving mother.
and notice the part about immigrants?
heh.
Update: Get Religion links to this WAPO editorial that notices
Librivox book of the week: Dog Ghosts.
------------------------------
back to the future:
UKGovernment opposes universities segregating men and women for speeches, lectures, separate schools, or classes.
but private clubs are okay.
Well, I hope so.
---------------
The bank here just gave me an unrequested local credit card. Heh. Yes, the local Waltermart mall has large shops that take credit cards.
But what is this Bitcoin I keep talking about?
Wikipedia entry.
------------------------
I though the trek was called off because of bad weather, but apparantly it was just postponed, because Prince Harry and his fellow vets have reached the south Pole.
original link since Gateway is a political blog.
Headline in the Manila Bulletin: Philippines signs defense deal with Japan
The article mentions the 200thousand Pinoys working there...most are caregivers or work on ships but some have married local men.
China is not just grabbing land: They are grabbing areas that affect the air lanes near Japan and the sea lanes in the West Philippine sea that are vital for shipping to Japan and Korea.
-----------------------------
Hell might not be freezing over, but Jerusalem is expecting 20 inches of snow.
And this is causing power outages...sigh.
---------------------
Drudge includes a headline that notes the pope is still Catholic.
"...Mary’s embrace showed what America – North and South – is called to be: a land where different peoples come together; a land prepared to accept human life at every stage, from the mother’s womb to old age; a land which welcomes immigrants, and the poor and the marginalized, in every age. A land of generosity,” said the Pope.
the Mexican Madonna shows a woman who is metziso, and dressed in local costume. She is also pregnant...so is not only the patron of the Americas but the patron of pro life causes, because in contrast to the female Aztec deity who was given human sacrifice she is our loving mother.
and notice the part about immigrants?
heh.
Update: Get Religion links to this WAPO editorial that notices
… Yglesias caveats his praise: “There’s a lot of stuff about Jesus in his thinking that I can’t really sign on to.”-----------------------------------------------
Yes, that pesky Jesus stuff. But there’s just one problem: Without Jesus, there is no Pope Francis. If Francis’s embrace of the disabled, focus on the poor and mercy for the sinner sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because you’ve heard it before. From that Jesus guy. …
Francis is doing the work that Jesus not only modeled, but that has been practiced by countless Christians in his name for millennia. To Catholics, Francis may feel refreshing, but he isn’t surprising. We’ve seen his example at work in Catholic homeless shelters and hospitals, though the humble service of the priests, brothers and nuns who taught us, in the lives of anonymous heroes and canonized saints. It’s the Christianity we’ve learned in our CCD classes and read in classic spiritual texts. It’s the Christianity that’s inspired for 2,000 years.
Librivox book of the week: Dog Ghosts.
------------------------------
back to the future:
UKGovernment opposes universities segregating men and women for speeches, lectures, separate schools, or classes.
but private clubs are okay.
Well, I hope so.
---------------
The bank here just gave me an unrequested local credit card. Heh. Yes, the local Waltermart mall has large shops that take credit cards.
But what is this Bitcoin I keep talking about?
Wikipedia entry.
------------------------
I though the trek was called off because of bad weather, but apparantly it was just postponed, because Prince Harry and his fellow vets have reached the south Pole.
Friday, December 13, 2013
FYI: Weather in Middle Earth
From Australia Broadcasting
Lunt took Tolkien's detailed maps of Middle Earth showing continents and mountains, and essentially "scanned" them into the supercomputer, the Guardian reported. Then he ran the numbers to get a 70-year model.
In a mock research paper published under the name Radagast the Brown, Lunt details climate details and weather predictions for Tolkien's fictional world. He compared the climate surrounding Mount Doom in the heart of Mordor to that of Los Angeles and western Texas. He argues that those areas have dry, hot climates with little vegetation and therefore match the conditions in fictional Mordor.
Contrarian stuff around the net
A couple of stories that go against the meme
were those terra cotta statues in China inspired by Greek sculptures?
----------
this is Julia...this is Julia on Obamacare.
-----------------------
Mandela was a communist and therefore was embraced by China, right?
or maybe not, says the GraniteStudio.
Chinese media: smog has at least five benefits
From Dave Barry who comments:
and some bureaucrats either have stupid clients or too much time on their hands:
Don’t flush shoes down toilet, Tennessee water resources head advises staff
also from DaveBarry.
----------------------------------------
The fake sign language interpreter at Mandela's funeral has an excuse: I was seeing angels.
----------------------------
not sure what you should give for Christmas?
The Amazing Crap-O-Matic Gift Generator.
headsup from Presurfer:
Merry Christmas from ABSCBN
were those terra cotta statues in China inspired by Greek sculptures?
----------
this is Julia...this is Julia on Obamacare.
-----------------------
Mandela was a communist and therefore was embraced by China, right?
or maybe not, says the GraniteStudio.
He was a political prisoner, an activist, a party organizer, general rabble rouser, an outspoken champion of the disenfranchised, and a Nobel Peace Prize recipient. If you are Chinese, these are not activities that get you a place on the CCP Christmas card list... Perhaps that’s why the Chinese state media is laying it on so thick. By trying to appear on the side of the angels, they are hoping people might forget that the government here has more in common with Mandela’s old opponents than it does with Mandela. ---------------------------------
Chinese media: smog has at least five benefits
From Dave Barry who comments:
JUST DOING THEIR JOB
-----------------------and some bureaucrats either have stupid clients or too much time on their hands:
Don’t flush shoes down toilet, Tennessee water resources head advises staff
also from DaveBarry.
----------------------------------------
The fake sign language interpreter at Mandela's funeral has an excuse: I was seeing angels.
----------------------------
not sure what you should give for Christmas?
The Amazing Crap-O-Matic Gift Generator.
headsup from Presurfer:
Merry Christmas from ABSCBN
Family news
Lolo visited his dogs at the farm yesterday.
I went to the bank and after a long wait got the money but forgot my passbook, so we had to go back and get it.
We went to Waltermart to get Lolo's medicines and goodies (the have siomai wrapped and with crab that tastes a bit like Sushi, for Lolo, and we got pizza: kiosk pizza with a thin layer of tomatopaste and cheese....Chano said it was real cheeze, so it's not as bad as it sounds).
The Hobbit was opening, with a 2 pm show, so we went back at 2 to find the film had just arrived and since the movie theatre had just reopened after being renovated, they still had to prepare to show the film, so the film wouldn't start until after 4. Sigh. Ruby homeschools and her teacher comes at 5, so we probably will postpone seeing it until next week.
Since I had money with me and we were at the mall, we went to the department store and I bought Lolo some white teeshirts (his are getting holes) and a soft pair of black chino shorts (it's hot season and the jeans type shorts are hot).
This weekend starts the "Simbang Gabi", the nine days of early mass before Christmas. Lolo used to go, but now is too frail to do it. I never could get up at 3 am for a 4:30 mass... After the mass, the young folks go and hang out at the central plaza two blocks away...and get food from vendors or from Jolibee across the street.
Chano is still having back problems, but Joy reports most of the Christmas rice has been delivered and is okay...hopefully we'll have enough income to plant the next crop (the dry season crop) without breaking into Lolo's savings.
I went to the bank and after a long wait got the money but forgot my passbook, so we had to go back and get it.
We went to Waltermart to get Lolo's medicines and goodies (the have siomai wrapped and with crab that tastes a bit like Sushi, for Lolo, and we got pizza: kiosk pizza with a thin layer of tomatopaste and cheese....Chano said it was real cheeze, so it's not as bad as it sounds).
The Hobbit was opening, with a 2 pm show, so we went back at 2 to find the film had just arrived and since the movie theatre had just reopened after being renovated, they still had to prepare to show the film, so the film wouldn't start until after 4. Sigh. Ruby homeschools and her teacher comes at 5, so we probably will postpone seeing it until next week.
Since I had money with me and we were at the mall, we went to the department store and I bought Lolo some white teeshirts (his are getting holes) and a soft pair of black chino shorts (it's hot season and the jeans type shorts are hot).
This weekend starts the "Simbang Gabi", the nine days of early mass before Christmas. Lolo used to go, but now is too frail to do it. I never could get up at 3 am for a 4:30 mass... After the mass, the young folks go and hang out at the central plaza two blocks away...and get food from vendors or from Jolibee across the street.
Chano is still having back problems, but Joy reports most of the Christmas rice has been delivered and is okay...hopefully we'll have enough income to plant the next crop (the dry season crop) without breaking into Lolo's savings.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Headlines below the fold
China is under the delusion that any place ever owned by a government running China should be theirs. With Obama's projecting weakness, it means the green light is on. It's not certain if Japan will fill the power vacuum or not, which is why the newest landgrab of Japanese islands is ominous, sort of a "headsup" to that country.
discussion here.
--------------------------------
How Assad is again winning in Syria.
Again, a lot of it is because Obama was too wishy washy to provide air power or support, and by the time he wanted to do so, the opposition had so many Alqaeda types that the US people said NO WAY.
---------------------------
Instapundit links to an article on the decline of dementia.
for later reading.
----------------------
"Fake" sign language interpreter at Mandela's funeral?
the problem might be simply the British complaining of this don't speak ASL or the dialect used by the interpreter. And his lack of expression might be because the usual exaggerated expressions of a good "speaker" might be ridiculed by the clueless as making fun of the speech. Or maybe the guy was only incompetent.
--------------------------------
Speaking truth to power: Third media slay in two weeks.
Killers still don't get swift trials...I mean the Manguindanao killers are still awaiting trial.
And the trial of the killers and the mayor who was behind the political hit that killed our nephew, a byastander, is still in limbo too...
Indeed, as soon as this guy's daughter was elected mayor there was a hit on the original victim's family, to threaten them to drop the case I guess (for some reason, WE can't ask for a trial, only the family of the targeted victim can't...since when is murder a crime that only is prosectued when the family objects to it?)
Ironically the second "hit" missed the intended victim but killed some innocent people nearby at a restaurant...and ironically the intended "victim" was at a funeral for one of our cousins, so the killers knew where he could be found... (the custom here is to eat out on the way home from a funeral, so the hit was at a public restaurant).
And even though our nephew was a US citizen, the embassy hasn't done didly squat to pressure the government to prosecute.
sigh.
discussion here.
--------------------------------
How Assad is again winning in Syria.
Again, a lot of it is because Obama was too wishy washy to provide air power or support, and by the time he wanted to do so, the opposition had so many Alqaeda types that the US people said NO WAY.
---------------------------
Instapundit links to an article on the decline of dementia.
for later reading.
----------------------
"Fake" sign language interpreter at Mandela's funeral?
the problem might be simply the British complaining of this don't speak ASL or the dialect used by the interpreter. And his lack of expression might be because the usual exaggerated expressions of a good "speaker" might be ridiculed by the clueless as making fun of the speech. Or maybe the guy was only incompetent.
--------------------------------
Speaking truth to power: Third media slay in two weeks.
Killers still don't get swift trials...I mean the Manguindanao killers are still awaiting trial.
And the trial of the killers and the mayor who was behind the political hit that killed our nephew, a byastander, is still in limbo too...
Indeed, as soon as this guy's daughter was elected mayor there was a hit on the original victim's family, to threaten them to drop the case I guess (for some reason, WE can't ask for a trial, only the family of the targeted victim can't...since when is murder a crime that only is prosectued when the family objects to it?)
Ironically the second "hit" missed the intended victim but killed some innocent people nearby at a restaurant...and ironically the intended "victim" was at a funeral for one of our cousins, so the killers knew where he could be found... (the custom here is to eat out on the way home from a funeral, so the hit was at a public restaurant).
And even though our nephew was a US citizen, the embassy hasn't done didly squat to pressure the government to prosecute.
sigh.
Lake Woebegon notes
The FreeLibrary podcast this week is with Garrison Kiellor.
and did you know his daily poetry reading and comments are also on line LINK
and did you know his daily poetry reading and comments are also on line LINK
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Family news
Lolo is very worried about the dogs at the farm. We have two boys working there who are supposed to feed them, but haven't been giving the dogs enough food. (I suspect that is because the boys, i.e. young men, are eating most of the rice they cook so none is left over for the dogs...the dogs are supposed to supplement the diet with rats/rabbits etc for protein)...they are so thin he has our cook making lots of extra rice to mix with dogfood and sending it there when he visits. But it's a busy time right now: Preparing the farm for the next planting, and (here) using the farmers wives to help pack the holiday gift rice bags and handicrafts, along with keeping all the various orders straight.
So for the last three days, we have sent the food with staff, and Lolo hasn't been to the farm. This morning he got angry and insisted that one of his drivers come and take him there right away. But when the driver came, Joy had errands and so he drove us around to various banks, to pick up a fifty pound sack of dog food (it usually lasts a month, but not with two nursing dogs and sending food to the farm) and to the mall, for Ruby to pick up new teenage books while Joy and I ordered McDonalds stuff for everyone. Lolo was a bit mad at the delay, but forgave everyone when he saw the Big Mac and ice cream sundae.
So now it is finally quiet: Lolo left for the farm, and I am in our airconditioned bedroom to rest and relax.
When we try to talk to Lolo, it sounds like we are fighting: His hearing is very bad, and I have to shout. I am starting to use a pencil and paper to write everything now. He is not senile: The hearing loss is from taking streptomycin for his TB over fifty years ago, but in the past ten year has gone from 50 db to 120 db loss...sigh.
So for the last three days, we have sent the food with staff, and Lolo hasn't been to the farm. This morning he got angry and insisted that one of his drivers come and take him there right away. But when the driver came, Joy had errands and so he drove us around to various banks, to pick up a fifty pound sack of dog food (it usually lasts a month, but not with two nursing dogs and sending food to the farm) and to the mall, for Ruby to pick up new teenage books while Joy and I ordered McDonalds stuff for everyone. Lolo was a bit mad at the delay, but forgave everyone when he saw the Big Mac and ice cream sundae.
So now it is finally quiet: Lolo left for the farm, and I am in our airconditioned bedroom to rest and relax.
When we try to talk to Lolo, it sounds like we are fighting: His hearing is very bad, and I have to shout. I am starting to use a pencil and paper to write everything now. He is not senile: The hearing loss is from taking streptomycin for his TB over fifty years ago, but in the past ten year has gone from 50 db to 120 db loss...sigh.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Musical Interlude of the day
Christmas is still "in"...at least in some places
ha.
or maybe you prefer this one:
or maybe Beyonce's song is more appropriate.
ha.
or maybe you prefer this one:
or maybe Beyonce's song is more appropriate.
Print out your pizza
Toxel has a post on 3D printed food
yeah, but by the time you fill the machine, and later have to clean out all the tubes and nozzles, you might as well cook it by hand. DUH.
LINK
Innovative 3D printer designed by Natural Machines can easily print fresh and delicious burgers, cookies, and pizza.
Simply place ingredients into the “Foodini 3D Food Printer” and watch it prepare your favorite meals. The food will be printed layer by layer.
Futuristic kitchen appliance combines technology, art, food, and design.
yeah, but by the time you fill the machine, and later have to clean out all the tubes and nozzles, you might as well cook it by hand. DUH.
Science headlines below the fold
400 thousand year old DNA in Spain might have been Denisovan, not Neanderthal...
for later reading and research: All I know is that Denisovan is supposed to be the Asian Neanderthal... but the story keeps changing.
related item: For what they were blog recommends Ethiohelix for information on African DNA etc.
-----------------------------
wormholes: may be the link between relativity and the quantum world.
Again for later reading and research: This story keeps changing too...
is string theory in or out this year?
---------------------------
An article on Gerald Manning Hopkin's dark night of the soul.
I always figured it was clinical depression, and often quote his poems when I discuss this terrible disease and argue with "religious" folks who insist that it is a spiritual problem that Jesus will solve, or with new age types who say all the depressed have to do is get a positive attitude.
yes, and no: Sometimes "Jesus" cures folks by sending them to a doc for medicine. And of course, some depression is from medical problems: mononucleosis, hepatitis, pancreatic cancer, thyroid disease or after a case of viral pneumonia are example of cases I've picked up when a person presented with what seemed to be a simple depression.
And Hopkins died of typhoid...after six weeks of "peritonitis"...a late complication of typhoid is that the hypertrophied bowel lymphoid tissue weaken the bowel wall and so when the person starts getting better and starts to eat, it perforates. So you have to watch their diets for weeks after a bad case. I've only seen it once, since most typhoid are treated nowadays with antibiotics early enough for this not to happen, but we did get a person who had a fever for a week before he arrived, and after he was treated did eat and develop this complication.
------------------------------
Global warming ismelting ice setting low temperature records in Antarctica.
yeah: It's so cold that Prince Harry's trip with fellow vets had to be called off.
-------------------------------------
latest greenhouse gas danger: perfluorotributylamine
yes, it seems to be nasty to human life too.
for later reading and research: All I know is that Denisovan is supposed to be the Asian Neanderthal... but the story keeps changing.
related item: For what they were blog recommends Ethiohelix for information on African DNA etc.
-----------------------------
wormholes: may be the link between relativity and the quantum world.
Again for later reading and research: This story keeps changing too...
is string theory in or out this year?
---------------------------
An article on Gerald Manning Hopkin's dark night of the soul.
I always figured it was clinical depression, and often quote his poems when I discuss this terrible disease and argue with "religious" folks who insist that it is a spiritual problem that Jesus will solve, or with new age types who say all the depressed have to do is get a positive attitude.
yes, and no: Sometimes "Jesus" cures folks by sending them to a doc for medicine. And of course, some depression is from medical problems: mononucleosis, hepatitis, pancreatic cancer, thyroid disease or after a case of viral pneumonia are example of cases I've picked up when a person presented with what seemed to be a simple depression.
And Hopkins died of typhoid...after six weeks of "peritonitis"...a late complication of typhoid is that the hypertrophied bowel lymphoid tissue weaken the bowel wall and so when the person starts getting better and starts to eat, it perforates. So you have to watch their diets for weeks after a bad case. I've only seen it once, since most typhoid are treated nowadays with antibiotics early enough for this not to happen, but we did get a person who had a fever for a week before he arrived, and after he was treated did eat and develop this complication.
------------------------------
Global warming is
yeah: It's so cold that Prince Harry's trip with fellow vets had to be called off.
-------------------------------------
latest greenhouse gas danger: perfluorotributylamine
yes, it seems to be nasty to human life too.
Monday, December 09, 2013
headlinesbelow the fold
Romney was right: Romney care, not Obamacare would have been a better idea.
Note this is from the Boston Globe (NYTimes lite), not the right wing Boston Herald.
--------------------------------
Factoid of the day from Strategypage:
120 thousand dead, 9.3 million at risk of starving, and 2.5 million refugees who fled Syria.
They note that both sides are hurting civilians to hurt the other side...and if you are from the southern US, you will be reminded that this was General Sherman's tactic...
--------------------------------
The UKMail discovers that British food aid to the Visayas isn't reaching those who need it:
also from the UKMail: newest infertility treatment: Brussel sprouts.
---------------------------
I always thought that the stories of Jesus sweating blood or mystics crying tears of blood were imaginary or exaggeration, but apparently there is indeed a medical syndrome that can cause this: a very high level of adrenalin is the cause. LINK
---------------------------------------
Here in the Philippines, the Japanese attack that started World War II was on December 8, not December 7...because we are west of the international date line. and the Diplomad tells the story about the confusion.
in both cases, a lot of folks were in church when the raid started: because here it is a feast day of MamaMary...
and the war also ended on a feast day of Mama Mary, August 15...
-------------------------
The Diplomad also has a post that echos my previous post on Mandela: That yes, he was a communist and allied with some very bad guys, but that he changed:
-------------------------
“They should have allowed more flexibility on a state-by-state basis,” said Massachusetts state Senator Richard Moore, a Democrat and key architect of the state’s health reform law...(Congreiss) would have been better served to use the Massachusetts model as a flexible framework for states to adopt over time, rather than a blueprint for a mandatory national plan.
Note this is from the Boston Globe (NYTimes lite), not the right wing Boston Herald.
--------------------------------
Factoid of the day from Strategypage:
120 thousand dead, 9.3 million at risk of starving, and 2.5 million refugees who fled Syria.
They note that both sides are hurting civilians to hurt the other side...and if you are from the southern US, you will be reminded that this was General Sherman's tactic...
--------------------------------
The UKMail discovers that British food aid to the Visayas isn't reaching those who need it:
- Supplies have turned up on shelves of shops in the capital Manila
- Equipment bought with UK donations have been locked up in warehouses
- Rice and other food is being stockpiled and not given to needy
- Charities express concern that not all donations are reaching disaster zone
also from the UKMail: newest infertility treatment: Brussel sprouts.
---------------------------
I always thought that the stories of Jesus sweating blood or mystics crying tears of blood were imaginary or exaggeration, but apparently there is indeed a medical syndrome that can cause this: a very high level of adrenalin is the cause. LINK
---------------------------------------
Here in the Philippines, the Japanese attack that started World War II was on December 8, not December 7...because we are west of the international date line. and the Diplomad tells the story about the confusion.
in both cases, a lot of folks were in church when the raid started: because here it is a feast day of MamaMary...
and the war also ended on a feast day of Mama Mary, August 15...
-------------------------
The Diplomad also has a post that echos my previous post on Mandela: That yes, he was a communist and allied with some very bad guys, but that he changed:
He seemed to have an understanding that whites and other non-blacks were essential for a peaceful and prosperous South Africa. He also, surprise, did not go full Mugabe. He won election--although the vote counting was suspicious--served his term, trying to unite blacks, whites, Asians, and others into accepting the new post-apartheid South Africa. He did not try to drive the whites out, and did not go around confiscating farms and businesses. He did not encourage revenge against whites and sought a reconciliation of the races. A practical politician, he turned a blind eye to the rampant corruption among the ANC, finding it better to let the party members expend their revolutionary fervor making money. At the end of his term, he stepped down. Yes, he stepped down. That is an amazing thing in Africa; he stepped down on completing his term of office.
Michael Novak, whose writings inspired the pro capitalism encyclical of jp2, writes on Pope Francis...
For later reading
The more things change...
the more they stay the same
The UK Economist points out that the distrust of government is partly because of the racial split: which is being funded by taxpayers to get votes.
what is missing from their analysis: That hard working people are losing jobs, having to pay more taxes and more for health insurance and having trouble making ends meet, but when they ask where the money is being used, they are called racist for doing so. They also see the freeloaders. And they are starting to resent it.
And this is not purely a "racial" thing: When I worked in Appalachia, the hard workers migrated to jobs elsewhere when the coal mines shut, and the free booters stayed behind, resulting in high unemployment and the freebooters complaining there were no jobs. But my Hispanic sons had no problem finding jobs... Jobs they didn't want because they didn't pay enough for the amount of work done.
Which is why you read stories of meat packing plants staffed by illegal Mexicans or Somali immigrants...
and, of course, I shouldn't talk: I took early retirement to the Philippines to care for my elderly husband. So does that make me a "freeloader" or a hard working caregiver?
---------------------------------
Related item: For later reading: Lippman's book on propaganda and truth in politics. Even the "will of the people" is what the "experts" say it is (yes we have polls, but phrasing the question, even "polls" are biased).
Also at Librivox.
written in 1920...
The UK Economist points out that the distrust of government is partly because of the racial split: which is being funded by taxpayers to get votes.
The country faces a crisis of mutual resentment, masquerading as a general collapse in national morale. Sharply-delineated voter blocs are alarmingly willing to believe that rival groups are up to no good or taking more than their fair share.
what is missing from their analysis: That hard working people are losing jobs, having to pay more taxes and more for health insurance and having trouble making ends meet, but when they ask where the money is being used, they are called racist for doing so. They also see the freeloaders. And they are starting to resent it.
And this is not purely a "racial" thing: When I worked in Appalachia, the hard workers migrated to jobs elsewhere when the coal mines shut, and the free booters stayed behind, resulting in high unemployment and the freebooters complaining there were no jobs. But my Hispanic sons had no problem finding jobs... Jobs they didn't want because they didn't pay enough for the amount of work done.
Which is why you read stories of meat packing plants staffed by illegal Mexicans or Somali immigrants...
and, of course, I shouldn't talk: I took early retirement to the Philippines to care for my elderly husband. So does that make me a "freeloader" or a hard working caregiver?
---------------------------------
Related item: For later reading: Lippman's book on propaganda and truth in politics. Even the "will of the people" is what the "experts" say it is (yes we have polls, but phrasing the question, even "polls" are biased).
Also at Librivox.
written in 1920...
Sunday, December 08, 2013
Stuff around the web
Mrs. Gay Caswell has a post on the wonderfulness of the Canadian health system...sounds like someone there was lectured about not using "unnecessary" antibiotics.
a lot of the problems she runs into are similar to that I saw in the US "on the res"....
--------------------------------------
So how exactly did they starch their clothing in the "good old days"? (or how did they get those fancy collars to stay stiff?_
headsup TeaAtTrianon
-----------------------------
John Allen of the NationalCatholicReporter has a new book on the modern religious persecution of Christians.
headsup Father L and his Crisis magazine review here.
------------------------
Islamicist suicide bomber kills 7 Filipinos working at a local hospital in Yemen
There is nothing worse than killing those trying to help people.
But before you think only Islam inspired types do it: could I point out that 32 of my friends, including several docs and nurses, were killed by communist inspired "insurgents" who were given money by the "world council of churches", who never met a left wing insurgent they didn't love?
___________________
related item:
Nelson Mandela has died. Yes, I know he also was inspired by communism, but unlike Mugabe he chose to compromise with not only his foes but other factions among the opposition. There was one time when many predicted a very bloody civil war followed by massive famine in South Africa: One reason this hasn't happened was Mandela (and hopefully Zuma won't decide to copy Mugabe now that he is gone).
LINK
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-------------------------
a lot of the problems she runs into are similar to that I saw in the US "on the res"....
--------------------------------------
So how exactly did they starch their clothing in the "good old days"? (or how did they get those fancy collars to stay stiff?_
Starch was already in use for fine linens and laces, but in the 1500s starchmaking became more organised and commercial in Northern Europe. Flanders, home of the famous Flemish lace, was one of the earliest centres of starch manufacturing and skilful use. A Dutchwoman brought some of that knowledge to Elizabethan London, and set herself up as an expert at a time when there was high demand for well laundered and elaborate collars and cuffs. And that's why some websites tell us that starch "arrived" in 1564.
headsup TeaAtTrianon
-----------------------------
John Allen of the NationalCatholicReporter has a new book on the modern religious persecution of Christians.
headsup Father L and his Crisis magazine review here.
------------------------
Islamicist suicide bomber kills 7 Filipinos working at a local hospital in Yemen
There is nothing worse than killing those trying to help people.
But before you think only Islam inspired types do it: could I point out that 32 of my friends, including several docs and nurses, were killed by communist inspired "insurgents" who were given money by the "world council of churches", who never met a left wing insurgent they didn't love?
___________________
related item:
Nelson Mandela has died. Yes, I know he also was inspired by communism, but unlike Mugabe he chose to compromise with not only his foes but other factions among the opposition. There was one time when many predicted a very bloody civil war followed by massive famine in South Africa: One reason this hasn't happened was Mandela (and hopefully Zuma won't decide to copy Mugabe now that he is gone).
LINK
--------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------
Family news
No church this morning: I'm achy and Lolo slept until 10.
The main reason is that it is a "fiesta" day, a Catholic holy day AND Sunday, and I didn't think that I could take a long crowded service (it gets quite hot inside church).
Lolo's new job is feeding the dogs at the farm. He stopped going there for awhile, and when he went back last week, they were thin. Probably because the boys are eating all the rice. So now, every day, he has our cook make extra rice to mix with dogfood and soup to feed them.
Chano is fine. They are busy with delivery of fancy rice packages for presents and also some handicrafts designed by him and made locally by crafts people. They are delivering them with the large truck, but yesterday they took the pickup truck (which had been under 5 feet of water during the October typhoon) to Manila, and made it back okay. If it keeps running well, that will be a big help.
The main reason is that it is a "fiesta" day, a Catholic holy day AND Sunday, and I didn't think that I could take a long crowded service (it gets quite hot inside church).
Lolo's new job is feeding the dogs at the farm. He stopped going there for awhile, and when he went back last week, they were thin. Probably because the boys are eating all the rice. So now, every day, he has our cook make extra rice to mix with dogfood and soup to feed them.
Chano is fine. They are busy with delivery of fancy rice packages for presents and also some handicrafts designed by him and made locally by crafts people. They are delivering them with the large truck, but yesterday they took the pickup truck (which had been under 5 feet of water during the October typhoon) to Manila, and made it back okay. If it keeps running well, that will be a big help.
Saturday, December 07, 2013
Factoid of the day
Did Henry VIII accuse Anne Boleyn of incest because he was projecting his own guilt on her?
Tea at Trianon cites an article at AnneBoleyn files blog that discusses the rumor that Henry not only had an affair with her sister, but tmight have had one with her mother (and the really nasty rumors included hints was he Anne's father?) at and comments on this ancient scandal. (No, it's probably not true).
but it reminds modern day folks that she wasn't really popular at the time...
Tea at Trianon cites an article at AnneBoleyn files blog that discusses the rumor that Henry not only had an affair with her sister, but tmight have had one with her mother (and the really nasty rumors included hints was he Anne's father?) at and comments on this ancient scandal. (No, it's probably not true).
but it reminds modern day folks that she wasn't really popular at the time...
Cat item of the day
and for your listening pleasure:
LibriVox has the book:
Cats: Their Points and Characteristics, with Curiosities of Cat Life, and a Chapter on Feline Ailments
Friday, December 06, 2013
Recipe of the day
If you love Haggis, you will really love vilmulimul
It is made by pouring reindeer blood into a cleaned stomach. Boiled kidneys, liver, ears, hoofs, and lips are added, as are berries and herbs. The stomach is sown closed and kept in a cold part of the yaranga (the traditional home) and allowed to ferment all winter. By spring, this dish, rich in calories and vitamins, is ready to eat.
Source: http://www.geocurrents.info/place/russia-ukraine-and-caucasus/siberia/the-cuisines-of-siberia#ixzz2mf0xX02H
and how did the indigneous in Siberia cook in the good old days?
Cooking among the native peoples of northern Siberia has been historically limited by the lack metal implements and pots. Untile relatively recently, the only way to heat food is by using stone pots or flat pan-like stones, or by cooking over an open fire, in ashes or in hot sand. Because of this shortage of metal implements, foods are rarely boiled even today and whatever soups are made have been borrowed from the Russian settlers. Frying in fat is still almost never practiced.
I couldn't find an article on Siberian indigenous cooking techniques, but
BonAppetit has an article on Native American hot stone cooking.LINK
Censorship
TedRalls, the political cartoonist, has been censored by...the Daily Kos(?!)
because he caricatured President Obama in one of his cartoons.
Heh. I'm old enough to remember Herblock.
because he caricatured President Obama in one of his cartoons.
Heh. I'm old enough to remember Herblock.
News you can use
Ancient cockroaches dined on DinoDung
----------------------------------------------
forget global warming: The universe is going to end in ice
or maybe a new universe will bubble up and destroy us.
so, why worry: Just go to the Restaurant at the end of the world and watch it while you drink a Pan Galatic Gargle Blaster.
an earth version can be found HERE.
fyi: Repeal day (the anniversary of the repeal of prohibition in the US) was December 5
----------------------------------------------
forget global warming: The universe is going to end in ice
or maybe a new universe will bubble up and destroy us.
Scientists studying the properties of the so called 'God Particle' say they may be able to determine exactly how the universe will end.
A concept known as vacuum instability could result, billions of years from now, in a new universe opening up in the present one as a tiny 'bubble', and eventually replacing it, they say.
'If you use all the physics that we know now and you do what you think is a straightforward calculation, it's bad news,' Joseph Lykken, a theoretical physicist with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston.
so, why worry: Just go to the Restaurant at the end of the world and watch it while you drink a Pan Galatic Gargle Blaster.
Its original, fictional recipe, is as follows:
Recipe
- Take the juice from one bottle of that Ol' Janx Spirit.
- Pour into it one measure of water from the seas of Santraginus V(Oh, that Santragian seawater! Oh, those Santragian fish!)
- Allow three cubes of Arcturan Mega-gin to melt into the mixture (it must be properly iced or the benzene is lost).
- Allow four litres of Fallian marsh gas to bubble through it, in honor of all those happy hikers who have died of pleasure in the Marshes of Fallia.
- Over the back of a silver spoon float a measure of Qalactin Hypermint extract, redolent of all the heavy odors of the dark Qalactin Zones, subtle, sweet, and mystic.
- Drop in the tooth of an Algolian Suntiger. Watch it dissolve, spreading the fires of the Algolian Suns deep into the heart of the drink.
- Sprinkle Zamphuor.
- Add an olive.
- Drink . . . but . . . very carefully . .
an earth version can be found HERE.
fyi: Repeal day (the anniversary of the repeal of prohibition in the US) was December 5
Thursday, December 05, 2013
Polonium in cigarettes: Who wudda thot?
wired reports that it has long been known about polonium in cigarettes, so trying to say the tiny amounts of polonium in Arafat's body is ignoring that he was a heavy smoker
so all of you Anti Semetic conspiracy theorist can forget that the old man was poisoned....(although I should note that most of the Anti Israel hatred, like a lot of the left wing hatred of America, seems to be based on cherry picking bad news and then having the compliant follwers in the press to push the story. This is similar to the black legend: not a balanced report of truth but propaganda... so I doubt a biochemical explantion will change anyone's mind).
But there is a real conspiracy that is being ignored: That tobacco companies conspired to cover up this fact, and that they could have fixed the problem
EPA report on this problem here.
the source is natural radon gas in the soil and the chemicals in some fertilizers that causes other isotopes to be absorbed in the plant, but also released as dust, which gets attached to the tobacco leaves...
so all of you Anti Semetic conspiracy theorist can forget that the old man was poisoned....(although I should note that most of the Anti Israel hatred, like a lot of the left wing hatred of America, seems to be based on cherry picking bad news and then having the compliant follwers in the press to push the story. This is similar to the black legend: not a balanced report of truth but propaganda... so I doubt a biochemical explantion will change anyone's mind).
But there is a real conspiracy that is being ignored: That tobacco companies conspired to cover up this fact, and that they could have fixed the problem
EPA report on this problem here.
the source is natural radon gas in the soil and the chemicals in some fertilizers that causes other isotopes to be absorbed in the plant, but also released as dust, which gets attached to the tobacco leaves...
English as she is spoken
Librivox has many volunteer readers, and today's "audiobook" is one that gives us examples of their many accents
three of the 20 are from Texas...but then, Texas was always another country, as the saying goes.
three of the 20 are from Texas...but then, Texas was always another country, as the saying goes.
Wednesday, December 04, 2013
Science Stuff below the fold
WesternDigs has an article about an Oklahoma fort that protected local Indians from attacks from other tribes...
ditch and pallisade protection wasn't just in Europe...but the area has few trees nowadays, so where did the trees come from?
----------------------------------
Malta DNA....and it's genetic relationship to AmerIndians.
------------------------------
SpaceX launches a satellite.
some credit to President Obama for this one.
--------------------------------
Plastic gun ban is extended.
This was about keeping x ray proof guns out of airplanes. But now, with 3 D printing, the problem might become a real danger.
-----------------------------------
For later reading: Spooky wormholes.
-------------------------------
Big Brother iswatching you listening to your music.
------------------------------
Clean, renewable energy...from wood?
related item: Back to the past: North Korea is using wood burning automobiles.
----------------------------
coax adult stem cells back into the embryonic state, and then use them to line a decelled human lung as a scafforld and voila, artificial lungs. LINK
but I wonder if the scaffold is decelled, why not use one from a pig? And I also wonder about the blood vessels here.
-------------------------------------
Nanosponges to boost immunity against MRSA toxin.
------------------------
Physics behind the Amazon drone.
ditch and pallisade protection wasn't just in Europe...but the area has few trees nowadays, so where did the trees come from?
----------------------------------
Malta DNA....and it's genetic relationship to AmerIndians.
we already had a good idea about the origins of Native Americans: their ultimate roots, at least patrilineally, seem to be in Altai (where they were part of the wider West Eurasian colonization at the expense of Neanderthals with Aurignacian-like technology and dogs). Then, probably around 30,000 years ago they expanded eastwards through Siberia and maybe nearby areas...
------------------------------
SpaceX launches a satellite.
some credit to President Obama for this one.
--------------------------------
Plastic gun ban is extended.
This was about keeping x ray proof guns out of airplanes. But now, with 3 D printing, the problem might become a real danger.
-----------------------------------
For later reading: Spooky wormholes.
-------------------------------
Big Brother is
------------------------------
Clean, renewable energy...from wood?
related item: Back to the past: North Korea is using wood burning automobiles.
----------------------------
coax adult stem cells back into the embryonic state, and then use them to line a decelled human lung as a scafforld and voila, artificial lungs. LINK
but I wonder if the scaffold is decelled, why not use one from a pig? And I also wonder about the blood vessels here.
-------------------------------------
Nanosponges to boost immunity against MRSA toxin.
------------------------
Physics behind the Amazon drone.
Tuesday, December 03, 2013
Stories below the fold
GetReligion points out that the court cases about Obamacare and religious freedom is not just about for profit industries, but will affect ministries that serve the poor of all religions without preaching.
Which is why the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run nursing homes, are suing too
------------------------------
Instapundit points out what I said yesterday: The Pope is talking about corrupt third world capitalism
-----------------------------------------
One problem with the gov't running things is that it takes forever to get a new product etc.
In Iraq/Afghanistan, this often meant soldiers bought their own stuff (e.g. cold weather gear, boots) until the Army got around to supplying better stuff.
But now, a software company is suing the USArmy for stealing their software to track the bad guys.
------------------------------
StrategyPage has the news on Syria
The good news? The Alqaeda rebels are losing.
The bad news? Iran's mullahs are winning.
The good news? AlQaeda won't turn Syria into another terrorist sponsoring state
The bad news? They will flee and take their terrorism with them.
------------------med
Daniel Callahan for 30 years has been preaching we need to prevent useless eaters from getting expensive medical care.
Nothing has changed, except he himself uses the care he wants to keep you from getting
and he scoffs that the elderly are wise: Maybe because he only knows people in his own set who are too busy having "full lives" to become wise?
-------------------------
Which is why the Little Sisters of the Poor, who run nursing homes, are suing too
------------------------------
Instapundit points out what I said yesterday: The Pope is talking about corrupt third world capitalism
I think the key factor here is that he’s from crony-capitalism-capital Argentina, and that he has mistaken what goes on there for the operation of free markets.
-----------------------------------------
One problem with the gov't running things is that it takes forever to get a new product etc.
In Iraq/Afghanistan, this often meant soldiers bought their own stuff (e.g. cold weather gear, boots) until the Army got around to supplying better stuff.
But now, a software company is suing the USArmy for stealing their software to track the bad guys.
------------------------------
StrategyPage has the news on Syria
The good news? The Alqaeda rebels are losing.
The bad news? Iran's mullahs are winning.
The good news? AlQaeda won't turn Syria into another terrorist sponsoring state
The bad news? They will flee and take their terrorism with them.
------------------med
Daniel Callahan for 30 years has been preaching we need to prevent useless eaters from getting expensive medical care.
Nothing has changed, except he himself uses the care he wants to keep you from getting
and he scoffs that the elderly are wise: Maybe because he only knows people in his own set who are too busy having "full lives" to become wise?
-------------------------
Monday, December 02, 2013
Vikings!
The Vikings series is now on our cable here in Asia. No, I am not watching it since it's on later at night.
But if you are interested in Viking history try listening to this series (before the copyright cops find it's there).
or go to Univ Houston for a university level course with more details.
But if you are interested in Viking history try listening to this series (before the copyright cops find it's there).
or go to Univ Houston for a university level course with more details.
The "There'll always be an England" post of the day
Forget the Zombie Apocalypse:
Dressing up as a clown is not against the law, according to police in Norfolk
via Dave Barry, who comments:
THIS IS EXACTLY WHY WE HAVE DRONES
Video of the day
Jarad Diamond agrees with the Asian idea that the elderly are not useless eaters, but sources of wisdom for their children and grandchildren (and great grandchildren).
The REALLY important news of the day
Sherlock returns on January 1
I figured out how they switched the bodies, but did he hide out with Molly or "that woman" for two years?
I figured out how they switched the bodies, but did he hide out with Molly or "that woman" for two years?
Sunday, December 01, 2013
Family news
Lolo was well enough to get to church, so we went early this morning.
Yesterday, he visited the farm to check the damage/repairs, and found the dogs were all thin.
So he ordered the cook to make chicken/rice mixture and he went after Church to the farm to feed to them to fatten them up.
I added dog food to the mixture, partly to add vitamins and partly to discourage the staff from eating it or stealing it to sell.
Sophie's puppies have all left: She stopped feeding them last week.
Sophie is now thin as a rail: she gets enough food, but with six thirsty puppies she lost weight again.
Alas, she doesn't eat dog food. We gave her extra eggs in the morning to help build her up.
Today was quiet. Chano and Joy had people packing rice for deliveries tomorrow in Manila, and Joy (with Ruby) has a trade fair in Subic, which is now full of shopping centers etc. I haven't visited there for years, but with Lolo I have to stay at home. He is better, but not well enough to travel that far for a one day trip.
Yesterday, he visited the farm to check the damage/repairs, and found the dogs were all thin.
So he ordered the cook to make chicken/rice mixture and he went after Church to the farm to feed to them to fatten them up.
I added dog food to the mixture, partly to add vitamins and partly to discourage the staff from eating it or stealing it to sell.
Sophie's puppies have all left: She stopped feeding them last week.
Sophie is now thin as a rail: she gets enough food, but with six thirsty puppies she lost weight again.
Alas, she doesn't eat dog food. We gave her extra eggs in the morning to help build her up.
Today was quiet. Chano and Joy had people packing rice for deliveries tomorrow in Manila, and Joy (with Ruby) has a trade fair in Subic, which is now full of shopping centers etc. I haven't visited there for years, but with Lolo I have to stay at home. He is better, but not well enough to travel that far for a one day trip.
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