Movie Suggestion for the week

Post Traumatic stress syndrome is not a new problem...

and for my spin on the Fort Hood murders, I have it on BNN. And my non PC version is HERE.

Japanese names

I am always fascinated on how different cultures devise names.

Until the reforms of the Meiji period, one's "name" would essentially be a description of one's family...

"...Here's how it breaks down: Saito, the family name, refers to a real or fictitious ancestor's official post as head of ritual purification (sai) at Ise Grand Shrine in present-day Mie Prefecture, the nation's holiest Shinto site. Ichiro, meaning "first-born son" (just as Jiro means "second son," Saburo "third son," and so on) isn't so much a name, as it would be today, as a kind of decoy — more on that in a moment. Sama-no-kami means "Head of the Left Horse Stables," an ancient title evocative of ancestry serving in the Imperial Palace, where all duties were divided for symmetry into "left" and "right." Minamoto is a clan name. Ason is another ancient title, of the sort known as kabane — there were eight in all, awarded to clan chieftains most eligible for hereditary government office. And Tadayoshi is the personal name, whose utterance in everyday situations that decoy "Ichiro" made unnecessary. Why was that desirable? Because in Japan until the Meiji Era, personal names — used sparingly even today — were taboo..."

headsup TokyoMango

First step toward a space elevator?

"...The team's robotic machine raced up more than 2,950 feet of cable dangling from a helicopter.

Powered by a ground-based laser pointed up at the robot's photo voltaic cells that converted the light into electricity, the LaserMotive machine completed one of its climbs in about three minutes and 48 seconds, good for second-place money..."

podcast on space elevator HERE

Purple Waffle Plant 1, indoor pollution 0

want to decrease indoor pollution?

Buy a houseplant.

According to Kays, some indoor plants have the ability to effectively remove harmful VOCs from the air, and not only have the ability to improve our physical health, but also have been shown to enhance our psychological health. Adding these plants to indoor spaces can reduce stress, increase task performance, and reduce symptoms of ill health.

Photo: Hemigraphis alternata, or purple waffle plant, one of the highest rated ornamentals for removing indoor air pollutants. (Credit: Photo courtesy of Dr. Stanley Kays)

Medical photo of the day

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

and now for the really bad news:

You can give it to Fluffy...


moar funny pictures

actually, cross species infections are a real danger...which is why SARS and Bird flu are so dangerous...and why a lot of us worry about the hype about cross species transplatation or making Chimeras that can live...

Hot Chocolate, Colombian Style

MyColombianRecipesBlog has instructions on how to make Colombian style Hot Chocolate.

You can eat it with PanDeYuca...

Hint: quesoFresco is farmer's cheese...similar to Mozzarella or pressed cottage cheese...how to make it found HERE.

Stuf below the fold

Three links about the Ancient Americans...LINK LINK LINK
the ancient Navajo stories may shed a light on the Chaco Canyon mystery...

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One of the untold stories: How the Evangelical churches kept dissadent thought alive in communist East Germany...

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My BodyGuard, Vatican style...

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Catholic bashing has been going on forever, and now Mormon bashing is "in" this year...

but somehow, a calender showing happy wives and muffin recipes seems more like an advertisement for a happy marriage than bashing...

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And then there is HelloKitty Calender, complete with Haiku...

Amazonlink


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Manny Makes the cover of Time (Asia)

The Revenge of the Gods (particle)

They are having one problem after another with the Hadron reactor that is looking for the "god particle".

The latest problem?
It overheated...
it's a bird's fault.
"The bird dropped some bread on a section of outdoor machinery, eventually leading to significant over heating in parts of the accelerator."

Popular science is calling it the "bird Baugette caper"


or maybe it's athe work of time-traveling Higgs boson particles

Stuff below the fold

StrategyPage has an article noting how EMS and ER medics are helping upgrade military medicine.

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There have been quite a few low grade earthquakes in Oklahoma recently,
USAToday says these are "aftershocks" from the 1811 NewMadrid earthquake...from slow settling of the midcontinental crust.
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The sheep, the wolves and the sheepdogs.
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Is Africa pulling apart? Well, maybe in a couple million years...

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Who is Helen Lacks, and why is her immortal cell line important to science?

Giftitem of the day

the UKTelegraph says there is now a book published about Kittywigs.


buy one for your kitty

for other pet items, check out this list...
hmm...wonder if they have "litter quitter" here in the Philippines...

My favorite is the goldfish walker...take your goldfish companion with you when you hobble down the street.

a nice Christmas gift for folks like Captain Lesard...

Anchee Min Interview

UCTV has a video interview with Chinese author Anchee Min. also available via MP3 download
(headsup EyeOnEastAsia)

her novels are an easy way to learn history, but without the context of culture they make bland reading.

How to pronounce "Worcestershire Sauce"

Worcestershire sauce

Historians have discovered the original recipe for Worcestershire sauce....

Lea&Perrins have recipes here for your enjoyment.

And for those of us who can't buy it at the Palenke, here is a recipe to make your own.

(Actually, I hate the stuff)

The "We're all Gonna Die" headline of the day

Dark matter "wrecking ball" may have hit Milky Way

and will dark matter slingshot comets our way?
info on the GouldBelt...
a lot of this is being argued about...since neither dark matter nor WIMPS have been verified.

They will not stay silent

A celebration of taking American hostages
leads to another type of demonstration...

Compare and contrast: Look at the enthusiasm of the people at the official demonstrations (via Tehran24, whose website just got unblocked by the government, reports:
Protestors to Iran election results used this legal time and demonstrated in the streets around the U.S last embassy. But anti-riot forces attacked people with baton and tear-gas.).
HomyLafayetteIran NewsBlog is keeping track of reports.

Then check out the photos of unofficial demonstrations here:
anyone can get students to demonstrate, of course, but when the passing bus passengers show support, it's more than a college rally...

The UK Guardian has more photos HERE if you scroll down...apparantly twitter is back up...and they have a bunch of photos from one of their photo-journalists...

and then there is this:
"Obama Are you with us or with them?"



Obama's statement:
"...It is time for the Iranian government to decide whether it wants to focus on the past, or whether it will make the choices that will open the door to greater opportunity, prosperity, and justice for its people..."

silly me. I thought the government made that choice when they stole the election...

Musical interlude of the day

AMEN!
The 1963 film is quite dated, of course: It shows how far integration has come since then.

If you want to watch the whole film, it is now on YouTube LINK (until bigbrother finds out and takes it off)...

Stuff below the fold

Did you hear: The NYTime says that "experts" now approve of fathers...
but notice the "father" hasn't bothered to marry mom? He isn't a real "father", but a boy playing at fatherhood when it suits him...

Scifi writer OrsonScottCard notes that the movie "Where the wild things are" is really about lack of a father in a boy's life...

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They are remaking the series "V"...
those aliens who promise "Change" and enthrall the public and the press...

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Archbishop's editorial to the NYTimes was refused, but the Post has all the gossip...

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The antibiotics linked to birth defects are those used for urine infections:
not the ones we usually use in pregnancy, and the rates are very low.
And urinary tract infections/std's can also cause miscarriage and birth defects..

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First Robert Reich, then Rolling Stone, now the Village Voice: We bailed out the banks, now when do we go after the crooks?
Hmm...Sounds like they listen to Coast ToCoast...
(viaSpengler)

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Tehran24 photo blog says that "Internet filtering removed from Tehran 24 since today morning and website is again accessible for visitors in Iran."
Lovely photos of autumn, go check it out...

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Before the Boxing day Tsunami, there was the Lisbon Earthquake, on AllSaint's day 1755...
(headsup TeaAtTrianon)

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Even the Taliban has computers,
and information that the Pakistanis have found on captured computers is finding information on 911 conspirators.

and when one reads about Afghanistan, remember: the heroin trade is behind a lot of the violence: And a lot of the drugs are going to addicts in Pakistan and Iran...

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Tiny, Morphing, Electricity-Stealing Spy Planes Developed

so if you see something hanging from an electric wire, it may not be a dead kite or a bird, but an AFRL MAV



so kids may be dying for lack of Measles vaccine or two cents worth of WHO Rehydration fluid in their Afghan village, but the bad guys will be zapped efficiently.
(Of course, it's the bad guys who bomb clinics and prevent women from being literate enough to be nurses, but that's another story...sigh).

Fix it yourself

need advice on how to fix things?

Check out the Handyguys podcast.

last week's episode mentions they are holding a contest on the best way to use duct tape.

No, it has to be something legitimate,not something like the photo above. (on their site via epicfail.com)

My best use of ductape is to wrap it so that it makes a 90 degree curve at the end of my wire attachments, so that the constant wiggling from 90 t0 180 degrees doesn't break the wires at the part where they connect into the computer.

Minoan scenes

Film with scenes of how the Bronze Age Minoan civilization sties would look in the olden days. The music is nice too.



you might want to check this one out too.