Ket's Rebellion ends

1549 Today marks one of the days in history on which were forged some of the human rights enjoyed by a proportion of people in the world. Regrettably, though, today we remember a bloody defeat rather than a victory for those who bravely asserted their liberties.

On this day, the Norfolk Rising (or Commotion), otherwise known as Ket's Rebellion, came to an end when the overwhelming military power of the Earl of Warwick crushed Robert Ket's rebels.

On July 20, at Mousehold, England, a herald of the king had been turned away, his message of conciliation – or, demand for compliance – from the monarch to some 20,000 rural insurrectionists rejected. The herald had promised the king's pardon to all who would depart quietly to their homes.

The rebellion of farmers and farm workers was aimed at bringing attention to the economic problems faced by agricultural workers in East Anglia. Like the Diggers (founded exactly one century later, in 1649 by Gerrard Winstanley) and even the rather more conservative Levellers, the rebels demanded the abolition of land enclosures, the end of private ownership of land, and the dismissal of counsellors. A commonwealth was established on Mousehold Heath ...

Categories: england, history, civil-rights, alternative-history

The crow paradox

This short (two and a half minutes) documentary from NPR shows how crows can tell us apart by our faces, but we can't tell crows apart by theirs. Thanx Lynn Fux.

Categories: science, bird

Vesuvius buries Pompeii

79 Between noon and 1 pm Mount Vesuvius (Vesuvio) erupted. The cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae were buried in volcanic ash.

The eruption caused the death of thousands, including the polymathic author and scientist, Pliny the Elder, who that day was in command of the Roman fleet at Misenum, which was not far off. Pliny launched his galleys and crossed the bay to Stabiae to observe the phenomenon directly, and also to rescue some of his friends from their perilous position on the shore of the Bay of Naples. His family was with him, including his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who has left an interesting account of what happened on the occasion ...

Categories: history, italy, ancient-rome

John Lennon and the UFO

Everybody’s smoking and no one’s getting high
Everybody’s flying and never touch the sky
There’s a UFO over New York and I ain’t too surprised
Nobody told me there’d be days like these

1974 John Lennon's UFO encounter.

Lennon and his 'personal secretary', May Pang, saw what they considered to be a UFO.

He and May were in their upper East side apartment when John saw what he believe to be a UFO and called May over to the window to see it.

Lennon refers to the experience on the cover of his album Walls And Bridges (pictured), which was released in 1974: "On 23 August 1974, I saw a UFO J.L.".

Categories: ufo, mystery

Spare a thought and a dollar for buskers

This story, sent to me by my penpal Lynn in Israel, is true, according to Snopes:

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: the violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities. The questions raised: in a common place environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made ... How many other things are we missing?

Irish spud joke

As I'm now putting potatoes into the ground, I thought I'd share a potato joke from my Irish friend, Nora, blogger at one of my favourite blogs, Extra! Extra!:

A frail old man lived alone in Northern Ireland.

His only son had been interned in Long Kesh Prison, and he didn't know anyone who would help him to dig up his garden in preparation for planting his potatoes.

He wrote his weekly letter to his son in Long Kesh, and mentioned his problem.

After a day or two he received a reply from his son saying:

"For HEAVEN'S SAKE, don't dig up the garden! That's where I buried all the GUNS!"

At 4 a.m. the next morning, a dozen heavily armed British soldiers burst into the old man's house, held him at gunpoint, and proceeded to dig up his back garden from end to end.

After several hours, they had found no guns, and clattered back out of the house again.

Next day, the old man wrote to his son telling him what had happened, and asked him what was going on.

His son wrote back and said: "Now plant your potatoes."

Categories: ireland, humor, humour

The Admirable Crichton

1560 Birth date of James Crichton ('The Admirable Crichton'; d. July 3, 1582), Scottish prodigy and polymath noted for his extraordinary accomplishments in languages, the arts, and sciences, of whom it was said he could answer any question on any science or liberal arts subject in 12 languages ...

Categories: scotland, biography, history

The quality of mercy is not strained

Congratulations to Scotland for showing compassion to Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi. Mercy is without peer, and I see no reason any dying criminal should not be allowed to die at home. Besides, there is a significant body of argument that Al Megrahi is not only the victim of a miscarriage of justice, but also completely unconnected to the Lockerbie tragedy. Suspicions remain about CIA and FBI involvement.

Categories: scotland, law, legal, terrorism, libya

Vinalia Rustica, ancient Rome

The Roman vintage began on this day, a festival held in honour of Jupiter, and Venus, goddess of vineyards. The other Vinalia was on April 23, when the wine of the previous season was broached.

The name of this annual festival derives from vinum (wine) and was celebrated with both wine and fire. There were two festivals of this name celebrated by the Romans: the Vinalia urbana or priora, and the Vinalia rustica or altera. The Vinalia were wine festivals lasting several days, honouring Roman god Jupiter, leader of the gods and god of the sky, and also Venus (pictured) in her aspect as guardian of gardens, olive groves and vineyards. Today was the day for honouring Venus as the protectress of the hetairae, or dancing girls. The hetairae entertained with music and dancing during dinners and feasts, and sometimes with sexual favours ...

Categories: calendar-customs, ancient-rome, deity, mythology, festival

Maybanke Anderson

Maybanke Anderson (1845 - 1927) was a remarkable Australian suffragette colleague of Louisa Lawson (character in my novel, 'Faces in the Street: Louisa and Henry Lawson and the Castlereagh Street Push'). She founded the first free kindergartens in the world, for poor children of Sydney. Anderson is also mentioned in my novel. This audio documentary is about Maybanke Anderson and her brother, Norman Selfe, who was just as remarkable.

Categories: louisa-lawson, henry-lawson, australia, suffragette, children, activism

Jewish jokes

I love Jewish humour, as Fuxy from Israel knows. She sent me these.

* I just got back from a pleasure trip. I took my mother-in-law to the airport.

* I've been in love with the same woman for 49 years! If my wife ever finds out, she'll kill me!

* What are three words a woman never wants to hear when she's making love? "Honey, I'm home!"

* Someone stole all my credit cards but I won't be reporting it. The thief spends less than my wife did.

* We always hold hands. If I let go, she shops.

* My wife and I went back to the hotel where we spent our wedding night; only this time I stayed in the bathroom and cried.

* My wife and I went to a hotel where we got a waterbed. My wife called it the Dead Sea.

* She was at the beauty shop for two hours. That was only for the estimate. She got a mudpack and looked great for two days. Then the mud fell off.

* I was just in London ; there is a 6-hour time difference. I'm still confused. When I go to dinner, I feel sexy. When I go to bed, I feel hungry.

* The Doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill so the doctor gave him another six months.

* The Doctor called Mrs. Cohen saying, "Mrs. Cohen, your check came back. " Mrs. Cohen answered, "So did my arthritis!"

* Doctor: "You'll live to be 60!" Patient: "I am 60!" Doctor: "See! What did I tell you?"

* A doctor held a stethoscope up to a man's chest. The man asks, "Doc, how do I stand? " The doctor says, "That's what puzzles me!"

* Patient: "I have a ringing in my ears." Doctor: "Don't answer!"

* A drunk was in front of a judge. The judge says, "You've been brought here for drinking." The drunk says "Okay, let's get started."

* Why do Jewish divorces cost so much? They're worth it.

*Why do Jewish men die before their wives? They want to.

*There is a big controversy on the Jewish view of when life begins. In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until it graduates from medical school.

*Q: Why don't Jewish mothers drink? A: Alcohol interferes with their suffering.

*Q: Why do Jewish mothers make great parole officers? A: They never let anyone finish a sentence.

*Q: What's a Jewish American Princess's favorite position? A: Facing Bloomingdale's.

*A Jewish boy comes home from school and tells his mother he has a part in the play. She asks, "What part is it?" The boysays, "I play the part of the Jewish husband. "The mother scowls and says, "Go back and tell the teacher you want a speaking part."

*Q: Where does a Jewish husband hide money from his wife? A: Under the vacuum cleaner.

*Q: How many Jewish mothers does it take to change a light bulb? A: (Sigh) "Don't bother. I'll sit in the dark. I don't want to be a nuisance to anybody."

*Short summary of every Jewish holiday: They tried to kill us, we won, let's eat.

*Did you hear about the bum who walked up to a Jewish mother on the street and said, "Lady, I haven't eaten in three days." "Force yourself," she replied.

*Q: Why are Jewish Men circumcised? A: Because Jewish women don't like anything that isn't 20% off.

Categories: humour, humor

CROATOAN mystery

1590 John White, the governor of the Colony of Roanoke in America, returned from a supply trip to England to find the settlement entirely deserted of all 117 people, including the first white child born in the country, his granddaughter Virginia Dare, whose third birthday it was.

Nine days after Virginia's birth, on August 27, 1587, White had left the colony for England, acting as Roanoke’s agent in obtaining further aid and assistance for the colony. He arrived in England that November as the nation was about to go to war with Spain. It was not until August 1590 that White reached Roanoke with a relief expedition. It found no trace of the settlers – only the word CROATOAN carved on a post. The infant Virginia had vanished along with all the other Roanoke colonists. It is likely that they did leave for Croatoan Island, an island near Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and it is believed by many that what survivors of the 'Lost Colony' there may have been were absorbed into the Croatan tribe ...

Categories: usa, american-history, history, mystery

Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 arrived on Esmeralda the Computer this morning, with the promise of running faster. Does it? No.

Categories: firefox, internet

Young Somalis say they face racism in Australia

"Young Somali immigrants say they face racism and feel unwanted in Australia. Their problems have drawn more attention since four men from Somali backgrounds were charged with planning a suicide attack on an army base in Sydney ..."
Source

It's reported by ABC News that many Somali-Australians are facing racist abuse in Australia. If the perpetrators think they're being good Aussies by these vile attacks, it's up to other Aussies to tell them that this is completely un-Australian and that the racists are dickheads. This country has a proud history of multi-ethnicity way back to the Eureka Stockade and even the First Fleet, and racism is as non-Aussie as you can get. The first person charged with sedition following the Eureka Stockade was an African-American. So was colonial Sydney's most illustrious harbourman, Billy Blue, after whom many places in Sydney are named. You can't get much more Aussie than that.

It's quite clear that most Somali-Australians are better citizens than the idiots who vainly try to prove by abusing Africans that they have balls. Aussie racists should be shamed as the pea-brains they are, by more intelligent, decent Australians. Racism of any kind is totally old-fashioned, un-Christian and unacceptable.

Indeed, there are some idiot Somalis, vastly outnumbered by cowardly, idiot Aussies. However, completely regardless of ethnicity, the drongos (black or white) should be made to feel as ridiculous as they are until they earn the right to be welcomed back into intelligent community. And that welcome should be genuine and without demur.

I am appalled and ashamed to read of the persecution of refugees by my fellow Australians. On behalf of non-idiot Australians, I apologize to good Somali-Australians for the deadshit Australians whose ignorance and heartlessness is deplorable and not mainstream.

If there's a handful of young Somali-Australian men who stupidly planned a violent raid on an Australian military base, let's deal with them in the law courts we properly value so much, but never forget that Australia is an ally of the USA which has deliberately destabilized Somalia at least since 1991, and helped to turn that benighted country into a bloody killing field. I deplore violence and eschew it completely, and think it is not only stupid, but counter-productive. However, Blind Freddie can see the immense disillusion and annoyance some Somalians have because of Australia and the USA, in the face of the brutality we've wrought in the land they love.

Categories: australia, somalia, racism

The dingo took my baby

1980 Australia: The baby Azaria Chamberlain was taken by a dingo at the great monolith, Uluru (formerly Ayers Rock). (Later the story was made into a Hollywood film, 'Evil Angels', aka 'A Cry in the Dark', in which Meryl Streep played Azaria’s mother, Lindy Chamberlain.)

Eventually, Mrs Chamberlain was cleared of having killed her daughter, but not before she had spent time behind bars in a case that greatly dominated the Australian consciousness for years.

Uluru is the second largest monolith in the world (after Mount Augustus, also in Australia) ...

Categories: australia, crime, law, legal, mystery

Rambling Bob Dylan raises police suspicions

This article suggests that Bob Dylan, recently detained by police for entering the grounds of a for-sale house in the rain, might have been looking for Bruce Springsteen's former home.

Categories: dylan

Dame Mary Gilmore and a bomb plot

1865 Mary Gilmore (born Mary Jean Cameron; later, Dame Mary Gilmore; d. December 3, 1962), Australian poet, utopian socialist, Communist, close friend of leading Australian socialist William Lane and fellow poet Henry Lawson. Gilmore was the first woman member of the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and member of its executive. She is the woman on the $10 note.

Lawson once asked her to marry him but she gave him a "no", noting in her diary "a curious immaturity" in him – like a "sappy twig".

When Lane led several hundred (figures vary according to source) Australians on the Royal Tar to Paraguay to form a utopian community, first New Australia and then Cosme when they abandoned the former, Gilmore was the colony's schoolteacher and 'newspaper' editor (the paper was read out daily to the colonists). After her return to Australia some six years later (she and her husband were among the first to leave Cosme, disillusioned), she continued to write poetry and became active in campaigns for the aged and under-privileged ...

In her old age she told the National Times, May 6 - 11, 1974 of an unsuccessful attempt of Larry Petrie's to blow up Circular Quay, the main dock area of Sydney. No date is given, but it’s probably 1892.

Petrie had left a bomb in a drain at the Quay, and some of his associates decided to remove it. While Mary Cameron (as she was before marrying William Gilmore) watched out for police, with great trepidation the diminutive Member of NSW Parliament Arthur Rae (1860 - 1943) crawled up the drain and removed the bomb, having volunteered to do so because at 5 feet tall he was the smallest person in the clandestine operation. Rae was Vice President of the AWU and one of the founders of the Australian Labor Party. In 1891 he was one of the first 36 Labor members elected to Parliament; he was later a Senator in the Australian Parliament ( 1910 - '14, 1918 - '35). Alongside Artie Rae and Mary at this extraordinary occurrence was Chris Watson (1867 - 1941), third Prime Minister of Australia and the first Labor PM (1904) ...

Categories: australia, progressive, poetry, labor-history, radical-history, terrorism

Bellingen Jazz & Blues Festival street party short video

Bellingen Jazz & Blues Festival street party short video
Originally uploaded by Pip_Wilson

The Jugalug Stringband in Hyde Street (main street). More info about the fest at http://www.bellingenjazzfestival.com.au/.

Categories: bellingen, music

Petition for release of Suu Kyi

"Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace laureate and pro-democracy activist, was sentenced to 18 months of extended house arrest by a Burmese court on Tuesday. Speak out now to urge China and Russia, two permanent members of the UN Security Council which have refused to condemn Burma in the past, to demand Suu Kyi's release ..." Take action.

"Suu Kyi's struggle is one of the most extraordinary examples of civil courage in Asia in recent decades. She has become an important symbol in the struggle against oppression."
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, Oslo, October 14, 1991

Categories: burma, civil-rights, human-rights, action, activism, liberty

His name is Ezra Nawi

Thank you for supporting Ezra Nawi. His sentencing hearing will be this Sunday, August 16.

Please continue to tell your friends and family about http://www.FreeEzra.org and http://www.supportezra.net/. Sign the petition.

Categories: israel, palestine, action, activism, human-rights, civil-rights

Tutbury hunters' procession

Tutbury hunters' procession, Middle Ages (Aug 15 - 16)

In old England, on the Feast of the Assumption, the wood-master and rangers of Needwood forest started the festivities by meeting at Berkley Lodge, in the forest, to arrange for the dinner that was given to them on this day at Tutbury Castle. The buck they were allowed for the feast was killed, as another that was their annual present to the prior of Tutbury.

They would ride into town in procession, each carrying a green bough, and one bearing the buck's head, with a piece of fat fastened to each antler. The town’s minstrels accompanied them. When they reached the centre of town the hunters blew their horns, then all went to the church and each paid a penny offering. Mass was celebrated, then a grand dinner prepared for them in the castle. The prior gave them 30 shillings towards the feast, and the following day there were further festivities ...

Categories: calendar-customs, england, uk

Assumption Eve festivities, Messina, Sicily

Today the festivities include the parading of two huge statues, I Giganti, a pair of 8-metre papier-maché giants representing Messina's legendary founders, Mata and Grifone.

Once upon a time there was gigantic Moorish Saracen, by the name of Grifone, who landed at Messina (the third largest city on the island of Sicily) and proceeded to sack the town. As soon as he met the beautiful Mata in Camaro, he fell in love with her and wanted to marry, but the giantess refused because he was cruel and Muslim, whereas she was very kind and Christian. I believe the Muslim version of the tale differs slightly.

However, the dark, nasty Grifone fell so madly in love with the beautiful blonde Mata, or perhaps, like George W Bush, he had such a spiritual turnaround, that he became kind and was baptised, so naturally Mata married him and they happily ever after with many children. Thus was Messina founded.

According to another legend, Grifone and Mata were Muslim prisoners taken by the mercenary soldier Ruggero D'Altavilla in 1086. Another says that in 964, during the siege of Messina, Arab General Hassas Ibn-Hammar fell in love with Mata, the beautiful daughter of a local merchant, and forced her to marry him. The Saracen did all he could to win her love, but to no avail until his conversion to Christianity, whereupon he changed his name to Grifo, and soon became known as Grifone (Big Grifo). In this version, Mata and Grifone also lived happily ever after.

Cam and Rea are among a number of alternative names for the legendary founders of Messina. In fact, Messina was founded by Greek colonists in the 8th Century BCE, but let's not spoil a good yarn.

Categories: folklore, legend, calendar-customs

Turbo Encabulator

Funny! From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLDgQg6bq7o thanks to Colin T.



Categories: humor, humour, technology, vieo, youtube, science, parody

Remembering August 9-17, 1969

What an amazing 8 days in US history: The Manson murders, Woodstock and Category 5 Hurricane Camille, the most powerful tropical cyclonic system at landfall in history. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969#August.

Categories: usa, woodstock, weather, crime

Science Friction

"A scientist pretends to be a psychic for a day — and fools everyone. An athlete discovers that good-luck rituals and getting into 'the zone' may, or may not, improve his performance. A historian decides to analyze the data to see who was truly responsible for the Bounty mutiny. A son explores the possiblities of alternative and experimental medicine for his cancer-ravaged mother. And a skeptic realizes that it is time to turn the skeptical lens onto science itself.

"In each of the thirteen essays in Science Friction, psychologist and science historian Michael Shermer explores the very personal barriers and biases that plague and propel science, especially when scientists push against the unknown. What do we know, and what do we not know? How does science respond to controversy, attack, and uncertainty? When does theory become accepted fact? As always, Shermer delivers a thought-provoking, fascinating, and entertaining view of life in the scientific age."
Science Friction

Categories: skepticism, science

Reminders to teach about the right times to quit

Thanx Lynn Fux for these (slightly amended) reminders that I needed:

1) Quit arguing with people about the same old foolishness! Respect their position and keep it moving!

2) Quit telling people your secrets w hen you know they are not going to keep them!
And if you keep telling them, then quit getting mad when they tell your secrets!

3) Quit trying to pull people on your journey who don't want to travel with you!
Either they believe in you and value you ... or they don't!

4) Quit complaining about things you can't and won't change!

5) Quit gossiping about other people!
Minding our own business should be a full time job!

6) Quit blaming each other for things that in the big picture aren't going to matter 3 weeks from now!
Talk solutions ... and then implement them!

7) Quit eating things you know are not good for you!

8) Quit buying things when we know we can't afford them!
If you don't have self control, then quit going to the stores!
Quit charging things, especially when you don't NEED them!

9) Quit staying in unhealthy relationships!
-It is not okay for people to verbally or physically abuse you! So quit lying to yourself!
-It is not okay to stay in the marriage for the children!
Ask them and they will tell you that they really would prefer to see you happy and that the misery you and your spouse/partner are living with is affecting them!

10) Quit letting family members rope you into the drama!
-Start telling them you don't want to hear it!
-Quit spreading the drama!
-Quit calling other relatives and telling them about your cousin or aunt!
Go back to #5 - minding your own business should be enough to keep you busy!

11) Quit trying to change people! IT DOESN'T WORK!
I am still working on this because I really see a world of possibilities for others and try to convince them to see and want differently for themselves!
Quit cussing people out when you know that they are just being the miserable and jealous people that they are!

12) Quit the job you hate!
Start pursuing your passion and purpose.
HINT: find the job that fuels your passion before you quit!

13) Quit volunteering for things that you aren't getting any personal fulfillment from anymore!
- Quit volunteering for things and then failing to follow through with your commitment!

14) Quit listening to the naysayers! Quit watching the depressing news if you are going to live in the doom and gloom of it all!

15) Quit making excuses about why you are where you are or why you can't do what you want to do!

16) Quit waiting on others to give you the answers ... and start finding the answers for yourself!

The Lychnapsia, ancient Egypt

The Lychnapsia (Lignapsia; Aset Webenut; Isis the Luminous One), ancient Egypt

The Egyptian Lychnapsia, or Festival of Lights, was over the centuries transformed into the Christian day of St Clare of Assisi (whose feast day was formerly August 12, but moved by the Catholic Church to August 11, qv). It is a day for the lighting of candles, like Candlemas (February 2), or Imbolc as it is known in the Celtic tradition.

In the case of the Lychnapsia (the Graeco-Roman term for what the Egyptions called Aset Webenut, or Aset the Luminous One), the candles were to help Isis find her husband, Osiris ...

Categories: ancient-egypt, calendar-customs, folklore, deity, religion

What is Bioregional Anarchism?

Not a bad intro to Bioregional Anarchism is at http://tinyurl.com/modmpj but it's just a brief outline. Wikipedia's article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioregionalism on Bioregionalism is useful, as is the article on a main philosopher on such important matters, the late Murray Bookchin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murray_Bookchin.

Categories: bioregionalism, anarchism

Support Israeli human rights activist Ezra Nawi

"Ezra Nawi is seen trying to stop a military bulldozer from destroying the homes of Palestinian Bedouins from Um El Hir in the South Hebron region. These Palestinians have been under Israeli occupation for almost 42 years. They still live without electricity, running water and other basic services, and are continuously harassed by the Jewish settlers and the military who are working hand-in-hand in order to seize their land. Notwithstanding the evidence in the film, Nawi has been found guilty by an Israeli court of assaulting an officer. Please support Nawi by sending emails protesting his imminent imprisonment to the Israeli embassy in your country."

Ezra Nawi at Wikipedia




Categories: israel, palestine, human-rights, action, activism

Immediate and unconditional release for Aung San Suu Kyi

"On May 14, 2009, Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy, and two of her assistants were taken from her home to Insein Prison following an incident in which an American man allegedly swam across a lake to her house and stayed there for two days. Suu Kyi was subsequently put on trial for breaching the terms of her house arrest, and was sentenced to an additional 18 months under house arrest on August 11, 2009. These charges and punishment are politically motivated and fail to meet international and national legal standards. The only issue here is her immediate and unconditional release."
Sign Amnesty International's petition

Categories: amnesty, human-rights, burma

Facebook in challenge to Google

"Facebook has turned up the heat on Google by purchasing content-sharing service FriendFeed, say industry watchers.

"Many expected Google or even Twitter to buy the company, which has been praised for its 'real-time' search engine ..."
BBC News

FriendFeed features that Facebook needs to absorb
Facebook Search Improved for Everyone

Categories: facebook, google, twitter

Dee meets Bacon

1582 There was an entry in the journal of English alchemist John Dee (1527 - 1609) that English philosopher Sir Francis Bacon (1561 - 1626), and Dee met (at Mortlake).

The young Bacon came to the famous alchemist to learn about the ancient Hebrew esoteric numerical code known as the Gematria, one of the oldest cipher systems known, dating from 700 BCE. Esoteric themes are threaded through much of Bacon’s writing and we can only guess at Dee’s influence ...

Categories: alchemy, uk, biography, history

Feeding the needy on a bus driver's wage

Jorge Munoz feeds hundreds of people each week with meals he cooks in his home kitchen: http://tinyurl.com/mjgawq.

Categories: philanthropy, poverty, food

School chair reform needed now

Cushioned classroom chairs could make a huge difference in the health of our boys, but who even thinks of this lateral idea that can obviate much medication and the medicalization of normalcy? The over-diagnosis of ADHD seems as bad today as it was a decade ago when thinking people started to be aware of it. It is particularly a control device used against boys, as the documentary, The Drugging of Our Children, shows. Symptoms such as "wriggling in his school chair" are hardly evidence of pathology, but characteristics of a healthy, normal boy.

If school wasn't so boring, and if school chairs weren't so hard on the less-padded bottoms of boys, my guess is that the majority of ADHD cases would plummet. I'd rather see school chair reform, and parents taking boys outside to play and burn off natural energy, than the wholesale drugging of a generation.

As one who wriggled his way through 13 boring, uncomfortable years of school, I thank the gods I wasn't born in the era of the pathologization of boyhood. I survived 13 years of wooden classroom seats -- but only just.

Categories: health

Seize the day

There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now,
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.

Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world.

Walt Whitman http://tinyurl.com/oednak

Categories: poetry

Michael Jackson family 'bought Twitter followers'

"An Australian social media company that sells 'packs' of Twitter followers to corporate clients says it has dealt with the family of Michael Jackson in relation to a media campaign for the deceased pop star ..."
Source

Categories: twitter, social-networking

Bizarre Versailles 'adventure' of the Misses Moberly and Jourdain

Charlotte Anne Elizabeth Moberly (1846 - 1937) was Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, 1886 - 1915, and wrote under the name Elizabeth Morison. Eleanor Frances Jourdain (d. 1924) was Principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, 1915 - '24.

On this day in 1901, these two ladies visited the gardens of the Petit Trianon at Versailles, France. In their wanderings they saw a number of people dressed in late-18th century dress. They were also seen by the old-fashioned people in the Trianon, and twice the two ladies asked for and received directions within the gardens. It is not known whether they saw a group of contemporary people playing at dressing-up, or if in fact they shared a trance-vision of the 1770s. Their book, An Adventure, documented the strange sight, and recently a movie has been made of the mysterious affair ...

Categories: mystery, france, paranormal

A new approach to an old food bank model

"For more than a quarter of a century, the University District Food Bank has helped prevent hunger in Northeast Seattle neighborhoods. Each week, more than 900 different families receive the groceries they need to prepare nutritionally balanced meals at home ..."
University District Food Bank

The UDFB has developed a supermarket-style food bank: see A New Approach to an Old Food Bank Model and also the PDF file from UDFB. I dips me lid to Lynn Fux from Israel for this info.

Categories: food

International Day of the World’s Indigenous People

In 1994, the UN General Assembly decided that the International Day of the World’s Indigenous People should be observed on August 9 every year during the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People (Resolution 49/214 of December 23). The date marked the day of the first meeting, in 1992, of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations of the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

Already in 1990, the General Assembly had proclaimed 1993 the International Year of the World’s Indigenous People (Resolution 45/164), and in 1993, the Assembly proclaimed the International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People, starting on December 10, 1994 (Resolution 48/163). The goal of the Decade was to strengthen international cooperation for solving problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as human rights, the environment, development, education and health. The Coordinator of the Decade was the High Commissioner for Human Rights; its theme was 'Indigenous people: Partnership in action'.

In 2004 the Assembly proclaimed a Second International Decade by Resolution 59/174. The goal of this Decade is to further strengthen international cooperation for the solution of problems faced by indigenous people in such areas as culture, education, health, human rights, the environment, and social and economic development ...

Categories: indigenous, united-nations

US still paying Blackwater millions

"Just days before two former Blackwater employees alleged in sworn statements filed in federal court that the company's owner, Erik Prince, 'views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,' the Obama administration extended a contract with Blackwater for more than $20 million for 'security services' in Iraq, according to federal contract data obtained by The Nation ...

"On July 24 the Army signed an $8.9 million contract with Blackwater's aviation wing, Presidential Airways, for aviation services at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Bagram, home to a massive--and expanding--US-run prison, has been the subject of intense criticism from the ACLU and human rights groups for holdings hundreds of prisoners without charges and denying them habeas corpus and access to the International Committee of the Red Cross ..."
The Nation (thanks to Nora from Extra! Extra!)

R's Genesis

Fellow R fans note: selected pages from Robert Crumb's latest work, the Book of Genesis, may be seen at the depository. Thanx Baz le Tuff.

What's up with the Rosicrucians?

Last week's http://skeptoid.com/ free audio and transcript is called What's up with the Rosicrucians? "Are the Rosicrucians really descended from an ancient order of alchemists, or are they just another mail order company selling recycled New Age goobbledygook?"

Categories: new-age, esoteric, alchemy, skepticism

Intervention Intervention with Fred Armisen

From http://tinyurl.com/l7n57e - Fred has a problem and his family and friends are here to make sure he gets the help he needs.

Categories: addiction, humor, humour, video

The Great Train Robbery

1963 History’s most famous heist, the Great Train Robbery took place in England. A 16-member gang stole 2,631,784 pounds – worth over 26 million pounds ($AU75.5 million) today -- in used bank notes which were on their way back to the Bank of England for burning.

Two London gangs combined for the stick-up. Best known of the robbers, the fun-loving birthday boy Ronnie Biggs (born on this day in 1929), was a member of neither, but was chosen because he knew the train driver. For his minor role in the robbery, Biggs was given a 30-year sentence, considered by many to be out of proportion to his crime. He gained fame by escaping from prison and remaining free for 28 years under the noses of Scotland Yard. Biggs lived secretly in Australia, then publicly in Brazil, made a movie with the Sex Pistols, and became an even bigger celebrity, making a living by being available for barbecues for a fee ...

Categories: uk, crime, law, legal

Amazing starlings aerial display

Seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-groCeKbE



Thanks, Frank Bolte, for this wonder.

Categories: nature, bird, youtube

Like, I mean, like and unlike, like

Like, I mean if you, you know, want really authoritative facts about, like, the differences between psylocybin and, I mean, mescaline and, you know, LSD, from a typically articulate young American sheila, well, like, you know, check out, like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvNy2-f4gXo

J/k. The kid's OK.

Categories: entheogen

Wicked Elizabeth Bathory

1560 Birth date of Elizabeth Bathory serial killer (d. 1614).

The ghastly crimes of Erzsébet Báthory (Elizabeth Bathory; the Bloody Lady of Cachtice; d. August 21, 1614) were uncovered on December 26, 1610.

Báthory was a Hungarian countess, a niece of King Stephen Báthory of Poland. Although it is difficult, if not impossible, to separate fact from fiction and legend, it has been alleged that she was a serial killer responsible for the torture and murder of over 600 peasants. It is commonly believed that her primary motive for murder was that she sought to improve her complexion by bathing in the blood of girls, but it is not known if this is a mere legend ...

Categories: biography

Blackwater founder implicated in murder

[Blackwater is a large American private security corporation or mercenary army.] "A former Blackwater employee and an ex-US Marine who has worked as a security operative for the company have made a series of explosive allegations in sworn statements filed on August 3 in federal court in Virginia. The two men claim that the company's owner, Erik Prince, may have murdered or facilitated the murder of individuals who were cooperating with federal authorities investigating the company. The former employee also alleges that Prince 'views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe,' and that Prince's companies 'encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life' ..."
The Nation

Categories: military, law, legal

Was King William Rufus a pagan sacrifice?

1100 England’s King William Rufus (William II of England; b. c. 1056) was killed when shot through the chest by an arrow while hunting.

Was William a pagan sacrifice?
The Celts celebrate the main part of the festival of Lughnasadh from sunset on August 1 until sunset on August 2. On August 2, 1100 English King William Rufus was killed when shot through the chest by an arrow while hunting in the New Forest. Rufus ('the Red') was a son of William the Conqueror, and his elder brother, Richard, had also died in the New Forest. Rumours probably abounded that Richard and Rufus were victims of heathen ill will, for William the Conqueror had expelled the dwellers of the New Forest ...

Categories: calendar-customs, pagan, england, monarchy