|
|
Blogmanac team
Jeannine Wilson (USA)
Veralynne Pepper (USA)
Pip Wilson (Australia)
Carpe diem!
Seize the day with more than 150 articles at Wilson's articles department
This blog is dedicated to the 353 victims of the SIEVX disaster,
and casualties of poverty and authority all around the planet
Subscribe free to Almanac and Blogmanac ezines
Friday, March 25, 2005
Bloody great Friday
This being Good Friday, ABC Radio National has had a lot of Christian broadcasting, something one can forgive, though it would be easier to do so if other religions got such treatment on their sacred days.
Some of the programming, however, has been not one jot nor tittle, nay, not so muche as an mustard-seede, shorte of magnificent. This morning's Breakfast interview with Irish-based Australian Catholic peace activist, Ciaron O'Reilly, facing ye jaile for attacking a US bomber prior to the invasion of Iraq, is a must-not-miss(e). Listen (requires RealAudio)
And Phillip Adams's interview (Real Media Windows Media ) with Sister Helen Prejean (author of Dead Man Walking and The Death of Innocents), the anti-capital punishment activist from the US, was just superb. I recommend a listen to both interviews for a double dose of inspiration.
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us Wednesday, March 23, 2005
 Baxter '05: Close the bastard down
COUNTDOWN TO BAXTER_05: 3 DAYS TO GO ...
BAXTER 05 :: a Convergence for Human Rights Easter 2005. AZADI!
"The Baxter Convergence campaign is vital. Places like Baxter belong in totalitarian countries, not democracies. They take away the basic human rights that ought to be the cornerstone of a democratic state, and their presence diminishes every one us. They should be closed down."
John Pilger
Folk around the country are busy oganising the journey across Australia to express peaceful and colourful dissent at the Baxter_05 Convergence for Human Rights. Over Easter, "A diverse group of people will demonstrate for a variety of reasons their dissatisfaction with the government's policy of mandatory detention of Asylum Seekers." We will converge in solidarity with the refugees jailed behind the gates of Baxter Immigration Detention Facility situated on military land on the stolen Homelands of the first peoples. Global Solutions Limited [the multinational corporation who run Baxter IDF] earn in the vicinity of $20,000,000.00 per year...
More
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us
Kangnido Map ... Wow!
If you go any time to Wikipedia's Main Page, you will find a link to Newest Articles. Today there's a beaut: the Kangnido Map. Maybe you've heard of it; I hadn't.
From the article I learned that this map was stitched together from two maps dated circa 1330 and 1370 respectively, which is a long time before the West's Age of Exploration. The article states:
"The map depicts in great detail the Empire of China, as well as Korea and Japan, although relative sizes and positions are not exactly preserved. China and Korea are oversized, and Southeast Asia (with its protruding peninsula and profusion of islands) as well as India are rounded up into the global landmass.
"In the West, the Arabian peninsula, Africa and Europe are quite clearly delineated, although the continents are shown smaller than their actual size. In particular, the Mediterranean is clearly depicted, as well as the Iberian and Italian peninsulas and the Adriatic. There are over 100 names for the European countries alone, including 'Alumangia' for the Latin word Alemania (Germany).
"The knowledge of the actual contour of Africa indicates early explorations of the area, clearly predating the European explorations of Vasco da Gama. In particular, the southern tip of Africa is quite clearly depicted, as well as a river which may correspond to the Orange River in Southern Africa. To the north of the African continent, beyond the unexplored 'black' central mass, a pagoda is represented for the lighthouse of Alexandria, and the Arab word 'Misr' for Egypt is transliterated in Chinese."
Read on
Compare with a 1466 European map
More
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us
New Study Shatters Milk Myth
[We've been raised on poison and lies! So many damned lies! -v]
From Gwen:
New Study Shatters Milk Myth
For Strong Bones, Kids Need Exercise,
Sunshine And A Dairy-Free Diet
Physicians Committee For Responsible Medicine 03-07-2005
 WASHINGTON -- In a new scientific review scheduled to appear in the March issue of the peer-reviewed journal, Pediatrics, Cornell-trained nutritionist Amy Joy Lanou, Ph.D., and co-authors show that dairy products do not promote bone health in children and young adults. Physical activity does have a positive impact on bone health, while evidence linking bone health with dairy product consumption is weak, at best.
"Under scientific scrutiny, the support for the milk myth crumbles. This analysis of 58 published studies shows that the evidence on which U.S. dairy intake recommendations are based is scant," says Dr. Lanou, lead author of the study. "A clear majority of the studies we examined for this review found no relationship between dairy or dietary calcium intake and measures of bone health. In the remaining reports, the evidence was sketchy. In some, the effects on bone health were small, and in others, the results were confounded by vitamin D intake from milk fortified with vitamin D. To build strong bones and healthy bodies, children need exercise, sunshine, and a diet rich in fruits and vegetables that helps them maintain a healthy body weight."
The level of dairy product consumption in the United States is among the highest in the world, and yet osteoporosis and fracture rates are also among the highest. This "calcium paradox" was an impetus for the current investigation. "We found no evidence to support the notion that milk is a preferred source of calcium," the authors conclude. Dr. Lanou is nutrition director for the
non-profit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), and her co-authors are Susan E. Berkow, Ph.D., C.N.S., and Neal D. Barnard, M.D.
- Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a
nonprofit health organization that promotes preventive medicine, especially good
nutrition. PCRM also conducts clinical research studies, opposes unethical human
experimentation, and promotes alternatives to animal research.
[Emphasis added. -v]
SOURCE
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us Tuesday, March 22, 2005
1812 Stephen Pearl Andrews (d. May 21, 1886), anarchist abolitionist, Modern Times community founder (with Josiah Warren; 1799 - 1874), born at Templeton, Massachusetts, USA.
He was a lawyer, author (The Sovereignty of the Individual) and free-love advocate; it is said that he knew 32 languages. He started with a brilliant career at the American bar and sacrificed it by his zealous work for the abolition of slavery. Andrews also contributed frequently to the Truth Seeker, a journal of rational thought that is still in publication (other eminent contributors included Thomas Edison, Clarence Darrow, Mark Twain, Robert G Ingersoll, HL Mencken, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Margaret Sanger). By the 1860s he was propounding an ideal society called Pantarchy, and from this he moved on to a philosophy he called "universology", which stressed the unity of all knowledge and activities. Andrews was cited in the article on Anarchism by none other than Prince Peter Kropotkin in the famed 1910 edition of The Encyclopaedia Britannica. Others who Kropotkin cites include Lysander Spooner, Benjamin Tucker, Josiah Warren, Herbert Spencer, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, August Spies, Albert Parsons ...
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with many more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date (or your birthday) when you're there.
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us Monday, March 21, 2005
Brit conservatives' anti-Gypsy campaign
"The thorny question of how the media covers controversial issues has reared its head again, with a Sun newspaper campaign declaring "war" on a 'gipsy free-for-all'.
"The paper's front page and inside story on Wednesday prompted one travellers group to lodge a complaint with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
"The report was misleading, discriminatory and likely to incite racial hatred against travellers and Gypsies, said the Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition (GTLRC).
Source: BBC
"In an outspoken attack on Gypsies today, Michael Howard will insist they are 'getting away' with wrongdoing, as the Conservatives move to exploit rural anger over illegal encampments.
"The Tory leader will unveil a package of measures designed to uproot unlawful settlements, including new rights for the swift removal of caravans from sites and powers for councils to purchase land compulsorily where there have been breaches of so-called stop notices freezing illegal development."
Michael Howard: I'll clear illegal Gypsy sites
Q&A: Travellers and the law
Worldwide Roma Nation Day (April 8), Romany (Gypsy) links in the Book of Days
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us
Testicular cancer "up 60%"
"Researchers from the US National Cancer Institute have reported a 60% increase in testicular cancer over the past 25 years. Statistics were collated across 21 populations covering five continents. Most populations showed the highest increase between 1973-1997 but researchers are uncertain why this should be the case and why there should be an increase in testicular rates at all."
Source: About Men's Health
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us
 Worldwide 2nd anniversary Iraq protests
Protests took place across the world marking two years since the start of the war in Iraq.
"Thousands turned out in Japan and Australia to complain about their countries' involvement in Iraq.
"Protest marches took place around Europe and similar events occurred in cities across the US ...
"More than 4,500 people marched in Tokyo during a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice."
Source: BBC
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us
 March 21, 1616 Pocahontas (Mataoke), a Native American of the Iroquois tribe, died in England (approximate date; sources vary).
Before she could set sail for her homeland, in March 1616, Mataoke died of pneumonia (some say smallpox), aged about 20, just one month before the demise of William Shakespeare on April 23. The much-misrepresented Mataoke/Pocahontas was buried at St George’s Church, Gravesend, London, which operates a tourist facility and website that maintain the Pocahontas fictions, as does Hollywood – and not a few educators.
The only portrait known to have been made while she was alive was an etching made in England by Dutch engraver, Simon Van de Passe (used on an American stamp in 1907), prints of which were sold at the time to the curious. Over time, images of her (as in the case of Cleopatra) were beautified to suit contemporary tastes, but John Chamberlaine, a member of the English nobility, commented that she was "no fayre [beautiful] Lady".
This is just a snippet of today's stories. Read all about today in folklore, historical oddities, inspiration and alternatives, with many more links, at the Wilson's Almanac Book of Days, every day. Click today's date (or your birthday) when you're there.
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us
 Detainees who find Christ may be allowed to stay
Read it and weep. Baz le Tuff sent me this one:
"Thirty of Australia's longest-term immigration detainees are having their cases reviewed and could be freed because they have converted to Christianity since arriving.
"The Federal Government has made the move quietly as it searches for a face-saving way to soften its policy on failed asylum seekers who have been in custody for more than three years, and cannot be repatriated to their countries of origin.
"It follows strong lobbying efforts by several Government backbenchers, churches and the powerful Family First party for the Government to relax its refugee policy for Christian converts.
"It also follows the case of one convert, deported from Baxter detention centre last October within a week after the election, and promptly interrogated in Iran for 48 hours before being charged with leaving the country illegally.
"The case was taken up by Family First, whose spokeswoman, Andrea Mason, described the action as 'repugnant'. The Government is keen to build bridges with Family First, which controls one vital vote in the Senate, where the Government has a majority of a single vote."
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Permalink to this post
Blogroll Us
| |
|
Pages
of Days
Almanac