The Haggis Cambrian Period?

Since 1997, when my partner & I were shocked & amused to find garlic haggis balls in a caff on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, there has been an evolutionary explosion, apparently. (Recipes here include 'creamy clap shot'.) The influence goes in both directions, as mostly happens. There is a report of a "Pakora Bar, at Sandgate (Ayr)" with "many different types of pakora e.g. haggis pakora, smoked sausage pakora, pork chop pakora", and a black pudding pakora in Paisley.

I draw this poetic tribute, from an online site for local North Scotland communities, to your attention ...
ADDRESS TO THE HAGGIS PAKORA
– by Lorna M. Angus
     Fair fa' yer honest sonsie face
     Great chieftain of the curried race ...

Another is on the second page at [PDF]

Good Considerations of Social Conflicts on "Marriage"

Same-Sex Marriage & The Efficient Society: Perfection vs. Efficiency
crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ same-sex-marriage-efficient-society.html
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Note: This post is a continuation from the earlier post at crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ much-ablog-about-nothing.html

Too simple to die - or too smart to live?

Is this killer too simple to die - or too smart to live?
www.timesonline.co.uk/ article/0,,11069-1708036,00.html
America
July 26, 2005
From Tim Reid in Washington

The jury must determine if Daryl Atkins is mentally retarded, or whether his IQ has increased enough in recent years to allow the state of Virginia to put him to death.
Atkins, 27, on death row for a murder in 1996, was named in a landmark Supreme Court ruling three years ago that declared it unconstitutional to execute those who were mentally retarded.
But the intellectual stimulation that Atkins has received since his conviction, after hours spent with his defence team, is believed to have raised his IQ above 70, the cut-off point for being classified as retarded in Virginia, which makes him eligible to die. Atkins, a school drop-out, scored 59 in an IQ test in 1998 but has recorded 74 and 76 in more recent tests.
Evan Nelson, who tested Atkins in 1998 and 2004, wrote in a report last year that “his constant contact with the many lawyers that worked on his case” gave him more intellectual stimulation in prison than he received during childhood.
Atkins’s case is not clear cut. A key prosecution argument will be that he has never been retarded. Under Virginia law, mental retardation must be determined before the age of 18. Atkins’s IQ was never tested until he passed the age of 18.

The execution exam
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1070-1707225,00.html
The Sunday Times Magazine
March 06, 2005
Investigation by Leni and Peter Gillman

For 23 years on death row, Howard Neal has protested his innocence. He has a mental age of eight but has learnt to read and write in prison. Now he must take an IQ test. If he solves a series of simple puzzles, he dies
... Neal has been on death row for 23 years. He was convicted of kidnap and murder in 1982 and sentenced to die in the Mississippi gas chamber.
... Neal inhabits a cell 6ft square. He is allowed out for four hours' exercise a week. In summer, temperatures soar above 100F (37.7C). The death-row suits are made of nylon and are unbearably hot, but there is no air conditioning or a fan, and no access to cold water. The light is left on 24 hours a day and the cell is infested with mosquitoes. Once, family visitors could stay all day; then visits were restricted to an hour. Neal's mother stopped coming; he last saw her in 1992.

All this for a crime that Neal insists he did not commit. His trial can only be described as a travesty. The evidence against him was desperately thin, consisting of one unsupported confession and a single, shaky witness sighting. Although a federal court found that Neal was unfairly sentenced to death, it refused to give him a reprieve.
... Now a new battle looms. Neal has an IQ of 54 and a mental age of eight, classifying him in the US as mentally retarded
... If he scores well, his reward will be a journey to Unit 32's execution chamber. But even if Neal falls below the 70 watershed, he may not be spared. In two cases, Mississippi has accepted the psychologists' verdict. In others, it has gone on the offensive. Prosecutors have attacked the validity of the tests and have accused prisoners of deliberately failing.
... In its rawness, its catalogue of family cruelty and abuse, his story resembles something out of those talismanic Mississippi writers Tennessee Williams or William Faulkner. It can be related from details in the court records, and from Neal's letters, written in short, repetitive sentences, after a fellow prisoner taught him to read and write.
...
... The psychologist noted that he asked if she thought he was mentally retarded. She asked what he thought that meant, and he replied: "It means you're a bad person, a nobody."

Neal, the psychologist related, had been proud to show her that he could read and write. He was also "highly motivated" to do well on the tests, and appeared not to know that his life could depend on the outcome. He was disappointed when she told him it was time to stop, and asked her to let him finish it.

Oops, sorry, won't do. We can't just shrug our shoulders over this shooting
www.timesonline.co.uk/ article/0,,1070-1707225,00.html
Opinion - Tim Hames
July 25, 2005

THE POLICE, according to a Sunday newspaper yesterday, fear a “backlash in the Muslim community” after the fatal shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent Brazilian electrician, at Stockwell Tube station on Friday. What the police should fear is a backlash from the entire civilised community. Yet there is no evidence that either the politicians or the public will provide it. The theme has been that this was a tragic “mistake”, but one which was unavoidable, even inevitable, in the current climate...

Same-Sex Marriage & The Efficient Society: Perfection vs. Efficiency
crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ same-sex-marriage-efficient-society.html
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Note: This post is a continuation from the earlier post at crawlacrosstheocean.blogspot.com/2005/06/ much-ablog-about-nothing.html

michaelp's Photos: Berkeley Botanical Gardens

michaelp's photos of Berkeley Botanical Gardens
www.michaelp.org/photos/ berkeley_botanical_gardens These are mainly cacti & other succulents. (via Particles) Check out his other photos online starting from www.michaelp.org/photos/index.html

Sounds: Boxing Day Earthquake; Crazy Frogspawn; Singing Dunes

Recording of Deadly Indonesian Earthquake
Robert Roy Britt, LiveScience.com Fri Jul 22, 2:45 PM ET
www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ 050722_earthquake_sound.htm
Sound from last December's huge tsunami-causing earthquake was picked up by underwater microphones designed to listen for nuclear explosions.

Scientists this week released an audio file of the frighteningly long-lasting cracks and splits along the Sumatra-Andaman Fault in the Indian Ocean. The recording of the quake starts out silent. A low hiss begins and the intensity builds gradually [in] a rumbling crescendo. Then it tails off but, frighteningly, builds again in waves as Earth continues to tremble.

The audio file here ( www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ 050722_earthquake_sound.html) is sped up 10 times to make it easier to hear.

The recorded data was provided in March to scientists by the International Monitoring System of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. An analysis of the data is detailed in the July/August edition of the journal Seismological Research Letters.

Maya Tolstoy of Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and her colleague, DelWayne Bohnenstiehl, converted the data to make the new audio file - MP3 file at this link: www.earth.columbia.edu/news/ 2005/images/tsun_eq.mp3

In other sound-related news, on Monday 25th July, 2005, Gut Records will release a U.K. album of Crazy Frog mixes, Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits, featuring new mixes of old hits including Technotronic's Pump Up the Jam. This may spawn a new cohort of ringtones to charm and beguile the populace

For a more pleasant aural experience, check out The Mystery of Desert Music: www.livescience.com/forcesofnature/ 050111_singing_dunes.html

Googly Moon?

Did anyone notice if this month's full moon looks bigger than usual? I read that "the distance between the Earth and its only natural satellite was the closest until 2007, at about 357,290 km (223,306 miles)". I have suspicions that if the situation was similar in 1969, that's why the moon landing (see below) happened around the date it did.
Pretty Picture The full moon rises behind the ancient temple of Poseidon, in Sounio about 73 kilometers (45 miles) south-east of Athens, on Thursday, July 21, 2005. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

He might have been Monty

Sad news that James Montgomery Doohan died on Wednesday 20th July, 2005 at his home in Redmond, Washington state (USA). He was 85 and had been battling Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, diabetes, and, most recently, pneumonia.

Born on March 3, 1920, in Vancouver (Canada), he most famously played Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original Trek TV series and several films, He asked that his ashes, like Gene Roddenberry's, be sent into space.

There's quite a few different obituaries online that fill in different parts of his life & times, which naturally include more than the relatively small part he's known for.

James Doohan, Scotty in 'Star Trek,' dies at 85
www.kentucky.com/mld/miamiherald/news/nation/12183257.htm
Miami Herald Posted on Thu, Jul. 21, 2005
BY DENNIS MCLELLAN

Actor James Doohan -- the engineer Scotty in 'Star Trek' -- has died at 85. Doohan, who became forever linked with the words 'Beam me up, Scotty,' asked that his ashes be blasted into space.
Los Angeles Times Service

Star Trek's "Scotty", James Doohan, Beams Up For Good (1920-2005)
www.the-trades.com/column.php?columnid=3383
By Paul Schultz
The Trades, Published: July 22, 2005

Known to millions of science fiction fans as feisty engineer Montgomery Scott on the original Star Trek television series (1966-1969), James Doohan died at his home in Redmond, Washington on July 20th.

Farewell, Scotty
By Joal Ryan Fri Jul 22, 7:42 PM ET

James Doohan, who sweated it out in the engine room of the USS Enterprise as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott on the original Trek TV series and, indeed, found himself beamed all over the world via reruns, videos and DVDs, died Wednesday at his home in Washington state. He was 85 and had been battling Alzheimer's disease and, most recently, pneumonia.

Per Doohan's request, said longtime agent Steve Stevens Sr., the sci-fi star will be cremated and his ashes launched into space by the same Houston-based aerospace company that shot the remains of Gene Roddenberry into orbit following the Star Trek creator's 1991 death. Stevens said he didn't know precisely when Doohan's outer space memorial would occur. "As soon as the next flight goes up," he said.

From the 1950s on, Doohan performed on thousands of radio shows, and hundreds of TV shows. While he did his share of Bonanzas and other prime-time Westerns, it was science fiction, in the form of a 1953 Canadian series called Space Command, that brought him his first regular series work.

Mooning Google?

The Launch of Google Moon
blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/050720-093635
Google[is] releasing Google Moon ( http://moon.google.com ).

That's right space fans, you're now able to use the same technology that you'll find at Google Maps ( maps.google.com ) and Google Earth ( earth.google.com ) to wander around the Moon.

One small step for Google...

On July 20, 1969, man first landed on the Moon. A few decades later, we're pleased to cut you in on the action. Google Moon is an extension of Google Maps and Google Earth that, courtesy of NASA imagery (thanks, guys!), enables you to surf the Moon's surface and check out the exact spots that the Apollo astronauts made their landings.

Is Google Moon a result of your Copernicus initiative?

Glad you asked, and yes, the development of our lunar hosting and research center continues apace. We usually don't announce future products in advance, but in this case, yes, we can confirm that on July 20th, 2069, in honor of the 100th anniversary of mankind's first manned lunar landing, Google will fully integrate Google Local search capabilities into Google Moon, which will allow our users to quickly find lunar business addresses, numbers and hours of operation, among other valuable forms of Moon-oriented local information.

Welcome to Google Moon

moon.google.com: In honor of the first manned Moon landing, which took place on July 20, 1969, we’ve added some NASA imagery to the Google Maps interface to help you pay your own visit to our celestial neighbor. Happy lunar surfing.

On a related note...Want to learn more about the flight of Apollo 11? You'll find some great material (images, timelines, etc.) at nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ lunar/apollo11info.html and nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/ lunar/apollo11.html. Video clips of the flight at spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/video/ apollo/apollo11/html/launch.html).

Want to learn more about the astronauts? Ask Jeeves has Smart Search results available for Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins.
It seems no-one remembers what "green cheese" really is.

Pix: New London Bombings 21st July, 2005; iPod ads; Cat Blogging

ADAMTIME MOBLOG - Adam Randall
Panic, police shutting roads (London, 21st Jul 2005) - moblog.co.uk/view.php?id=80714

A phone-video (Quicktime) of police clearing a street in London
moblog.co.uk/blogs/2970/ vids/moblog_e7c1578f1dbf1.3gp

(And the 'moblog' of a fairly cluey bloke who calls himself Dave) moblog.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=344

randomimagewall : Dave
http://moblog.co.uk/imagewall.php?user=373

Adam - could you contact me if you're happy to license these for wikinews please?
en.wikinews.org/wiki/ London_Underground_evacuation_after_%27Incidents%27

Cult of Mac
by Leander Kahney
Wednesday, 22 June 2005
IPod Ads on Flickr
wiredblogs.tripod.com/cultofmac/ index.blog?entry_id=1141712
The world's greatest photo website -- www.flickr.com -- is home to lots of fine shots of iPod billboards.

Nicer things
Domo Proudly Supports Cat-Blogging
5th Jun 2005 10:26 (from Katyblog by doodle)

When You Wake the Black Man from Boston, Nicholas Scratch Will Surely Come to Call

liz_marcs: When You Wake the Black Man from Boston, Nicholas Scratch Will Surely Come to Call: www.livejournal.com/users/liz_marcs/106314.html

On July 12, 2003, Sen. Santorum cried out and pointed an accusing finger at the Black Man from Boston, falling into the trap that has resulted in destroyed lives, reputations, and the end of great political movements, especially religiously fueled ones.

For you see, when you cry out on the Black Man from Boston, you wake Nicholas Scratch, and he will surely come to call on you.

I am tempted to ask the good Republican Senator from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Are you entirely sure you want to get the estimable Mr. Scratch's attention?

Vinferno (Part 1)

Bonny Doon Vineyard :: Vinferno Part 1

Wow. Parody is definitely a large part of human creativity - in a good sense, not necessarily poking fun, but using someone else's work to inspire you.

Stuff On My Cat

Stuff On My Cat: "Do you like to put stuff on your cat while it snoozes? So do we, send us a picture with you and your cats name to stuffonmycat@gmail.com. If your submission meets our 'rigorous' standards in the fields of quality and awesomeness we will put it up for all to see
www.stuffonmycat.com

Boing Boing: Photos related to London bombings, blog coverage, Wikipedia

Boing Boing: Photos related to London bombings, blog coverage, Wikipedia -- UPDATED: Thursday, July 7, 2005
Photos related to London bombings, blog coverage, Wikipedia -- UPDATED
645AM, L.A.: Tags on Flickr that return images related to today's deadly bombings -- three in the London underground and one a bus -- include bombs, bomb, blast, terrorism, and London. Pools include The London Bomb Blasts Pool, and London Explosions Pool. (Thanks, Jake Appelbaum)

The Guardian's blog has good, ongoing coverage. Link: ( blogs.guardian.co.uk/news/archives/2005/07/07/ explosions_plunge_london_into_chaos.html).
(Thanks, Flora).

Other collaborative blogs covering the event include Londonist ( www.londonist.com/archives/ 2005/07/tube_network_do.php), and the London Metblog ( london.metblogs.com/).

Here is a highly informative Wikipedia 'current event' page, which includes links to news sources, blogs, a timeline of events, and translation of the claim for responsibility posted on the Jihadist website Al-Qal'ah: Link ( en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/2005_London_transport_explosions)
News networks in the UK are soliciting text messages and cameraphone images, videos from viewers. CNN just aired the first footage they obtained from inside a struck tube carriage; the video was shot on an eyewitness' cameraphone.

A Question for British Readers

German forces formally surrendered over 6 - 8 May 1945, marked by VE Day on May 8th, while the Japanese surrender followed on 15 August 1945 (exactly 396 years after the arrival of Francis Xavier), called VJ Day. It was signed on September 2nd on the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

There was quite a lot of fuss in May over the victory of the Allies in Germany. Why is the UK having another round of commemorations & celebrations in JULY? Is it just that the weather is more likely to be better then than at the time of the actual ending of World War II in August? Do they intend to have something to remember the atomic bombings of Nagasaki (M Butterfly's city) and Hiroshima, and the Japanese surrender, or is it following the grand British tradition of celebrating things -- like the monarch's birthday -- on days they didn't happen? As far as I can tell this isn't halfway between

The battle on Okinawa (~150,000 deaths) happened after the surrender of Germany, so did the final re-taking of the Philippines, some of the Tokyo raids, fighting in Borneo, etc, etc, and obviously the two atomic attacks. About 40 millions (twice the current population of Australia) had died by VE Day, but there were many deaths more before the end of the war.

[A document of unconditional German surrender was signed at General Dwight Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims on 7 May, but victory was celebrated on 8 May. The northern forces represented by Admiral Freideburg and General Jodl, surrendered to Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, near Lubeck, a day earlier. These show Keitel and Zhukov in Berlin at the Russian HQ.]

Online Library of Selected Images -- Department of the Navy -- Naval Historical Centre www.history.navy.mil/branches/org11-2.htm

This photo may be by Lee Miller.
A general of the Volkssturm lies dead on the floor of city hall, Leipzig, Germany.
www.archives.gov/research_room/research_topics/ world_war_2_photos/images/ww2_187.jpg
He committed suicide rather than face U.S. Army troops who captured the city on April 19, 1945.

Australian Climate and Weather Atlas

Front page of the Climate and Weather Atlas of Australia: http://home.iprimus.com.au/ozthunder/oz/front.html (formerly members.ozemail.com.au/~michaelt/front.html) this is a private but pretty good site. It includes a part called `Weather Features', which has sections on Bushfires, Monsoon, Snow in Australia, Thunderstorms in Australia, Tropical Cyclones & Dangerous and Destructive Seas.

Google Guide Quick Reference: Google Advanced Operators (Cheat Sheet)

Google Guide Quick Reference: Google Advanced Operators (Cheat Sheet): GOOGLE GUIDE - by Nancy Blachman www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html

Google Help : Cheat Sheet: www.google.com/help/cheatsheet.html

Zzyzx

Zzyzx
by Ross Eckler
Word Ways, 1996

In an article in the February 1974 Word Ways, Dmitri Borgmann nominated Zzyzx Springs as the alphabetically-last United States place name.

In addition to Zzyzx Springs, there exists a Zzyzx Road, a 4 1/2-mile dirt road leading from Interstate 15 to Zzyzx Springs.

The story of Zzyzx Springs is the story of Curtis Howe Springer who, in 1944, settled without a by-your-leave on 12,800 acres of Mohave desert land, on a tract about eight miles long and three wide. On it he erected a 60-room hotel, a church, a health spa with mineral baths in the shape of a cross, a castle, a radio station and several other buildings. He even constructed a private airstrip which he called Zyport.

Springer identified himself as a physician and a Methodist minister, but in fact he was neither. For thirty years he broadcast a daily religious and health program from a radio studio at Zzyzx Springs which was carried, at its peak, by 323 stations in the US and other countries ... He urged his listeners to send him donations for miraculous cures for minor ailments as well as illnesses as serious as cancer ... [using] his magic potions (concoctions of celery, carrot and parsley juice)...

Retirees gave Springer their life savings for the privilege of staying in spartan quarters at the ranch. Vacationers stayed at the hotel for a few days at a time to enjoy the waters

These enterprises thrived from 1944 until 1974, when federal marshals finally arrested him for alleged violations of food and drug laws and unauthorized use of federal land. Zzyzx Springs and all the improvements were confiscated by the Bureau of Land Management, and Springer was found guilty and spent a few months in jail. He died in Las Vegas in 1986 at the age of 90.

Since 1976 Zzyzx Springs, now simply known as Zzyzx, has functioned as the Desert Studies Center, a teaching and research station administered by the California State University system ... under a 25-year cooperative management agreement with the Bureau of Land Management

Computer Graphics "Master and Servant"

CG Society Challenge XVII "Master and Servant" results.

Listing of artists & entries
www.cgnetworks.com/challenge/ masterandservant/view_entries.php

(Large pictures)
cgnetworks.com/challenge/entries/ 8/6721/6721_1116332313_large_tiff.jpg

The winner (called "Spoiled") - v soft porn (smaller detail is on front page, above)
www.cgnetworks.com/stories/2005_07/ master_servant_results/2d_winner.php

Or, alternatively
members.aol.com/JesusImages/

A Prayerful Tyger's Tail?

A Song and Dance over prayer and prosperity (SMH Letters, July 6, 2005) smh.com.au/ articles/2005/07/05/ 1120329444893.html "It sounds like a Christmas carol: "One Labor premier … five federal cabinet ministers, eight Liberal backbenchers and two National Party Senate leaders" line up to praise and give thanks to the power- and money-hungry patrons of the Hillsong church" ( Politicians make a joyful noise, too By Linda Morris July 5, 2005 smh.com.au/ articles/2005/07/04/ 1120329388593.html and Politics goes to church at Hillsong July 4, 2005 smh.com.au/ articles/2005/07/04/ 1120329387287.html "The nation's most powerful politicians sought to connect with a crowd featuring an oversupply of that all-important political player, the aspirational voter" )
[From the ABC 702 Sydney Local Radio Guestbook (Sally Loane)]
Name: Big Trev
Topic: Get On Board (room for plenty o'more)
Visit Time: 5/07/2005 8:53
A well known large religious movement seems to be getting some pop from Governments of both persuasions and there is no doubt the Christian Evangelical movement has some clout around the world at present...
But who is using who when politicians front up to the opening night of a Religious gathering.
I fear that precious taxpayers dollars will leak in a bid to win votes somewhere sometime and probably secretly, for the cause.

Firstly, are said well-know-large religious movement really that influential? 2% or 3% of community? Surely the 'bible-thumpers' only have as much clout as the numbers allow.
Secondly, even if they are more significant shouldn't we really concede that they have as much right to be 'represented' as co-citizens?
paulo 6/07/2005 9:50

Both in the US and here the overall vote for each major party is 40-odd% (which is why I never believe this whole 'mandate' thing, because almost half the country votes against the winner), so swinging a smallish chunk your way can make the difference between winning & losing. With non-compulsory voting, if only 50% of all electors vote, and 80-90% of, say, the 5% the groups represent, can be guaranteed to vote your way, that's worth 8%, which is more than most winning margins if you count the votes right across the country, not seat-by-seat. Religious groups are likely to be able to mobilise a widespread committed section of voters to come out and vote the way their leaders tell them; more than a local school, or motoring organisation, say.

Of course, there are many complications, eg the division into seats & states & particular groups being concentrated in some, but I believe that one dangerous thing with politics recently is that they have realised that rather than appeal to a broad selection of the population, they can target certain groups to gain winning batches of votes. This might be riding the tiger when they have to come up with the policies or money to reward the groups, but it's not the politicians I worry about getting scarred, though, but the ripping apart of the social fabric by pandering to sectional interests.

Like ships that pass in the night ...

An exchange of emails:
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Employee Benefits
>> Sent: Fri, 05 Sep, 2003 5:32 PM
>> To: All NNC Australia
>> Subject: New Benefit Available - Novated Leasing
>>
>>Improving NNCAP Reward Practices
>> Novated Leasing
>>
>> No-Name Company Asia-Pacific is pleased to
>> announce the launch of an exciting new employee benefit for
>> our Australia based employees as a next step in the
>> enhancement of our Reward and Recognition Framework.
>>
>> Novated Leasing enables an employee to “salary package” a new
>> or used motor vehicle of their choice. This service is
>> available to all permanent (Australian) employees of No-Name
>> Company Asia-Pacific.
>>
>> We are also holding information sessions for employees
>> commencing Wednesday 10 September, to explain Novated Leasing
>> in more detail. Employees are encouraged to attend a session
>> to find out what Novated Leasing is and how it might be of
>> benefit to them. Access the session booking of your choice
>> through the link - http://nncapnet/nomination/Nomination.asp.
>> Numbers are limited, so be sure to register quickly!
>>
>> If you have any questions please contact your HR representative.
>>
>> Ann Nonymous
>> Director HR, No-Name Company Asia-Pacific
>>
> -----Original Message-----
>From: Name, My
>Sent: Tuesday, 9 September 2003 5:32 PM
>To: Nonymous, Anne
>Subject: FW: New Benefit Available - Novated Leasing
>
> Interested if it applies to my $1,200 (this year) annual Green
> Travelpass - or might be applicable to, say, Sydney's highest
> priced Purple Travelpass @ $2,080.00 :-)
>___________________________________________
> As the author of this, I grant you, the next recipient, permission to pass this on in accordance
> with fair dealing, with caution as to any identified copyright material that may be included.
>
>My Name
>My Position
>
>Dust of the earth, help thou my unbelief...
>Be, beloved, threatened world.
>Each minim mote...
>the ordinary glow of common dust in ancient sunlight.
>Be, that I may believe.
> Denise Levertov, 'Opening Words'
> www.cs.rice.edu/~ssiyer/minstrels/poems/1302.html
>_________________________________________________
> The views, opinions and judgements expressed in this message are solely
> those of the author. The message contents have not been reviewed nor
> approved by No-Name Company Asia-Pacific (ABN 12 345 678 901)
>
-----Original Message-----
From: Person, Another
Sent: Wednesday, 10 September 2003 8:36 AM
To: Name, My
Subject: FW: New Benefit Available - Novated Leasing

'Me'
'Anne' has asked me to respond to your email.
Novated Leasing relates to purchase of new or used car for personal use. It is unrelated to public transport travel.
If you have any questions about Novated Leasing you are welcome to come to a session to find out more.

Regards
'Another'

Another Person
Manager
Human Resources Business Services
Asia Pacific
No-Name Company (ABN 12 345 678 901)
_________________________________________________
She was either very good at pretending she didn't know what I meant and ignoring my point or so phase-locked into a tunnel vision of car-dependency that she didn't understand it.

Dissent, Digimages & some comfort after

Dissenting Digimages
oddlots.digitalspace.net/ARX/downloads/graphics.html
wulfius-khan.deviantart.com
Poison Box image page
Poison Box - Big Version

KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation
The CIA's Secret Manual on Coercive Questioning - www.kimsoft.com/2000/kubark.htm
Related Documents
Psychological Operations In Guerrilla Warfare - www.kimsoft.com/guerilla.htm
Guerrilla Operations Outline - Korea - www.kimsoft.com/korea/CCRAK.htm
A Study of Assassination - www.kimsoft.com/korea/cia-0.htm

Horturba (plant-growing table thing) - www.treehugger.com/files/2005/02/grow_fresh_vege.php

Looking at aspect of spam possibly less offensive than most - see here (with over-shoulder caution if necessary) - from www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com

How Buildings Learn
www.gyford.com/phil/notes/2004/10/24/how_buildings_lear.php

Gashlycrumbs & Ghastly Ghosts of True (Sydney) History

The Gashlycrumb Tinies by Edward Gorey ( www.wishville.co.uk/gorey) An Alphabet Book of Twisted Tales, by an author with an apposite appellation.

Leviathan: the Unauthorised Biography of Sydney
by John Birmingham
www.abc.net.au/arts/books/stories/s424252.htm
[Recorded at the 2000 Brisbane Writers Festival and broadcast on Radio National's Books and Writing program, 2001. Also used at
www.abc.net.au/arts/headspace/rn/booksw/leviathan/default.htm]

ISBN: 0091842034
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 563
[An] epic tale of a city with a cold vacuum for a moral core. John Birmingham drills beneath the cover story ... Combining intensive research with the pace of a techno-thriller, [he] creates a rich portrait of a city too dazzled by its own gorgeous reflection to care much for what lies at its dark, corrupted heart ... Leviathan is history for the Tarantino generation.

At Seekbooks.com.au.

At Dymock's Bookshops;
At The Well Bookshop

Enlightenment & the like

English and Related Literature - Eighteenth Century Information Sources
www.york.ac.uk/services/library/subjects/engl18int.htm

University of KwaZulu-Natal Library - Pietermaritzburg campus - Subject links
www.library.unp.ac.za/SubjectLinksEnglish.htm
English
General subject gateways; Period studies; South African and postcolonial literature; Dictionaries; South African Organizations, etc.

Africlassical.com
Black History & Classical Music
Composers & Musicians of African Descent
George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860)
chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com/Bridge.html
Afro-British Violinist Accompanied by Beethoven
A persistent urban legend claims that Ludwig van Beethoven was Black! He was not. His ancestors were of Flemish and German descent. However, his Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 47, now called the "Kreutzer Sonata", was originally dedicated to the Afro-British violin virtuoso George Augustus Polgreen Bridgetower (1780-1860).
Bridgetower had an African American father and a European mother. He was raised in London, and began his career as a violinist at age ten!

Paul's Humanities (mostly Latin) Links page ( romaine.home.pipeline.com/notes/humanities.html )
Related Links - Ancient Greek & Latin, and 18th Century work related to or inspired by the Classical spirit.
www.greenspun.com/boohoo/related.tcl?page_id=PWR_Lit

Guide to Dr. Samuel Johnson - Texts, biographies, writing and anecdotes
andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Johnson

Bookish; Are fossils words in the Book of Earth?

Side by side Chaucer at the Medieval Sourcebook:
www.fordham.edu/halsall/sbook2.html#lit2

The Kelmscott Chaucer
www-tech.mit.edu/~subway/Prints/chaucer.html
After a quick glance at the Kelmscott Chaucer, one might think the book was printed in the 15th or 16th century, not long after the printing of the Gutenberg Bible. In fact, it was printed in 1896. Its intentions, however, were very much rooted in the early history of the printed book. The publisher was the founder of the Kelmscott Press, William Morris, who was not only a noted printer and typographer, but also a famous commentator on a vast array of subjects, from the design of textiles and furniture to politics and social studies. The Kelmscott Chaucer was Morris' response to what he considered the cheap quality of books of the time

Walking directions to Mordor site
www.ooblick.com/text/tomordor

From a set of not-entirely-serious commentaries on most of the book www.bedford.net/teep/moby1.htm
There are a great many jokes in Moby-Dick, including possibly the world's most erudite fart joke: "For as in this world, head winds are far more prevalent than winds from astern (that is, if you never violate the Pythagorean maxim)..."

Jim Woodring's FRANK visits the Burgess Shale!
www.seattle.gov/arts/showcase/peephole/popup/woodring/frame.asp

Bronowski's Best Available Again! (+ Ken Clark's)

Sorry that this is long, but I'm hoping to have this extract of Bronowski in so many places around the net that many people may see it, and some think about it.

The dangerousness of people who are certain of themselves is a recurrent theme we can see in history. Events have recently resonated with a couple of memories, plus there has been some recent good news (see at the end). So here are two related treatments of it, edited from old entries.

The Sydney Morning Herald runs some opinion columns by columnists that deliberately set out to bait their mostly "liberal" readership. One of them is called Miranda Devine (great name, like Athena Starwoman, Slim Pickens, Rip Torn &c.). In a column in my most difficult year ( War-wary will not weary them, SMH 12th February, 2003) she praised statesmen of great "moral purity". The type that really frighten me. Here is one strong and clear explanation of some reasons I feel that way:

Extract of "Knowledge or Certainty", episode 11 from the 1973 BBC series The Ascent of Man by Jacob Bronowski (shown on PBS in the USA), as transcribed by Evan Hunt: www.ronrecord.com/Quotes/bronowski.html

"The Principle of Uncertainty is a bad name. In science -- or outside of it -- we are not uncertain; our knowledge is merely confined, within a certain tolerance. We should call it the Principle of Tolerance. And I propose that name in two senses: First, in the engineering sense -- science has progressed, step by step, the most successful enterprise in the ascent of man, because it has understood that the exchange of information between man and nature, and man and man, can only take place with a certain tolerance.

But second, I also use the word, passionately, about the real world. All knowledge -- all information between human beings -- can only be exchanged within a play of tolerance. And that is true whether the exchange is in science, or in literature, or in religion, or in politics, or in any form of thought that aspires to dogma. It's a major tragedy of my lifetime and yours that scientists were refining, to the most exquisite precision, the Principle of Tolerance -- and turning their backs on the fact that all around them, tolerance was crashing to the ground beyond repair.

The Principle of Uncertainty or, in my phrase, the Principle of Tolerance, fixed once for all the realization that all knowledge is limited. It is an irony of history that at the very time when this was being worked out there should rise, under Hitler in Germany and other tyrants elsewhere, a counter-conception: a principle of monstrous certainty. When the future looks back on the 1930s it will think of them as a crucial confrontation of culture as I have been expounding it, the ascent of man, against the throwback to the despots' belief that they have absolute certainty.

It is said that science will dehumanize people and turn them into numbers. That is false: tragically false. Look for yourself. This is the concentration camp and crematorium at Auschwitz. This is where people were turned into numbers. Into this pond were flushed the ashes of four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality -- this is how they behave. This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods.

Science is a very human form of knowledge. We are always at the brink of the known; we always feel forward for what is to be hoped. Every judgment in science stands on the edge or error, and is personal. Science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible. In the end, the words were said by Oliver Cromwell: "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ: Think it possible you may be mistaken."

Other sites with parts of this extract: skepdic.com/science.html; www.eighty.btinternet.co.uk/page30.htm; www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/bronowski.html

[Exciting news, after many years, when the BBC would only sell the series in the UK to educational bodies, and it could be bought at a very high price on VHS in the USA only, they wouldn't ship elsewhere, now The Ascent of Man (USA) and Civilization (USA) are out in DVD box sets! If we all keep our extremities crossed, perhaps "O!, What a Lovely War will make it to DVD too. (Start your wish-list ... ) The books of both series are available second-hand reasonably regularly.]

and a reaction to the events of September 11, 2001 which also refer to this:
The Danger of Knowing for Sure
www.ratbags.com/skepticism
A special joint edition of
The Millenium Project and Quintessence of the Loon
September 12, 2001 by Peter Bowditch

... Bronowski was making a distinction between science and non-science - between knowing something with confidence and knowing something with certainty. The Nazis knew with certainty that they were right. Science, and its handmaiden skepticism, is based on the principle that knowledge is testable and that ideas and beliefs can be rejected and replaced if they can be demonstrated to be wrong or outdated. It is a process of continuous learning. Yes, science can have bad outcomes, but those bad things can be challenged and changed if necessary. When ideas cannot be challenged then learning, improvement and the correction of mistakes are impossible. There is no way back ...

When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21

Another aspect of the 'Knowlege & Certainty' point. In late January 2003, a piece by billionaire financier George Soros, was published, first in the New Statesman. [You may be able to find other sources.] He wrote that the Nazis and Russian communists had one thing in common: "a belief that they were in the possession of the ultimate truth" - and that America too now shared this fatal flaw.

But of course, this is also true of the Taliban, the Inquisitio Haereticae Pravitatis and its other incarnations, as well as current fundamentalist Christian groups, other fundamentalist religious groups (e.g. Hindus & Sikhs have been massacring each other in the Indian subcontinent for some decades, with politicians whipping up religious groups as cynically for their own benefit as in any 'christian' society), the aforementioned political movements, and even the economic hardliners who are willing to "break a few eggs to make an omelette".

Consider also the philosophy discussed by EM Forster in his essay "What I Believe" or "Two Cheers for Democracy", published in 1938.

To me probably the most important religious principle - of which 'love thy neighbour as thyself' is a version - is "Do as you would be done by". This has to apply to the non-human world as well, which is often not appreciated.

(written for the vigil opposing the death penalty in Singapore)

alfian.diaryland.com/hole.html

2005-05-09 - 10:40 p.m.

It was a little after I had my lunch when I heard the knock at the door. When I opened it, a polite man greeted me and passed me an envelope. Please collect the body within 24 hours, or it will be cremated. There was no room for shock. The whole week I had prepared myself for this. I did not let my hands tremble as I accepted the envelope ...

Some online photos

A photo e-book
www.zonezero.com/books4sale/sarajevo/review.html by Roger Richards on Sarajevo

www.dvnetwork.net

www.esthet.org/blog - archived, now photos on www.flickr.com/photos/esthet (on the 'architectural' side, where Roger Richard's ones above are heavily human-centric).

Mezza's photos at Flickr www.flickr.com/photos/87756698@N00 - another inner-city Sydneysider.

"Heroes Never Die"

Don't Mourn - Organize!: Songs of Labor Songwriter Joe Hill
01/01/1990
Smithsonian Folkways
ubl.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0%2C%2C77862%2C00.html

The inclusion of Joan Baez's version of "Joe Hill" on the Woodstock album has been single-handedly responsible for keeping Joe Hill in the public consciousness. Sad but true, for Joe Hill, poet, songwriter, and organizer, was the most popular intentionally proletarian artist in American culture. Not an easy feat, especially considering how many people have tried to be popular proletarian artists.
This album, named after Joe Hill's famous last words before he was executed by the State of Utah, is a testament to Hill's power as a musical and cultural figure. It also attempts to secure his place in our memory;
Baez won't last forever, of
course. The album consists of two elements, Hill songs performed by important interpreters and songs about Hill, again in historically important performances. Among the former, number Harry McClintock singing "The Preacher and the Slave," Pete Seeger doing "Casey Jones (The Union Scab)," and Cisco Houston's version of "The Tramp."
The latter category contains the more varied and more interesting contributions. Among these are poet Kenneth Patchen's spoken word piece "Joe Hill Listens to the Praying," Billy Bragg singing Phil Ochs' "Joe Hill," and both Paul Robeson and Earl Robinson performing the Robinson-penned number Baez made her own, "Joe Hill," with its classic line, "I never died said he."
Excellent as an album and as a cultural document, hopefully this album will not let us forget the important
legacy, a sense of purpose, Joe Hill bequeathed to our culture. ~ Brian Whitener, All Music Guide

Les Miller's death of Leukaemia - Media Statement by 702 ABC Sydney

Les Miller - Media Statement by 702 ABC Sydney
Tuesday, 7 June 2005
Presenter: Simon Marnie

It is with great sadness that 702 ABC Sydney farewells Weekend Woodie Les Miller, who passed away this morning.

Les, a stalwart of the 702 ABC Sydney Weekends landscape for the past 4 years was one of our beloved Weekend Woodies ...

The Weekend Woodies - Les Miller (left) and Peter Masia
Medium Resolution Image: (54.76 KB)
High Resolution Image (1.21mb)

He acquired something akin to cult status thanks to his often hysterical but always instructional co-presenting of the Weekend Woodies with fellow expert Peter Masia and 702 ABC Sydney presenter Simon Marnie. Listeners with no interest in home renovation would often tune in just to hear the highly entertaining banter that is the Weekend Woodies. Les was also a regular guest on ABC TV’s The New Inventors hosted by 702 presenter James O’Loghlin ...

All the staff at 702 ABC Sydney share their grief with Les' family and friends. Les was not only a colleague, he was a friend to all of us and his great wisdom, generosity and cheeky spirit inspired us all. We will miss him dearly ...

"Royal de Luxe" Performance piece in Nantes, in memory of Jules Verne

This looks great. Could Sydney Festival bring it out? A certain friend of mine would say I should go to "London (UK) the 8, 9, 10 and 11 of September, or in 2006: Bilbao (Spain), Antwerp (Belgium), Calais (France)." where other performances are planned :)
www.nantes.fr/detente/culture/art_675.asp
Found this at www.livejournal.com/users/jwz/488113.html, also noted at
www.livejournal.com/users/jwz/489202.html
Personal Picture Gallery at
www.lean.to/gallery
This is an official site, with commentary in French, but is mostly just good photos
http://www.nantes.fr/ext/royal_de_luxe_2005

www.worldchanging.com/archives/002825.html - bit on Jules Verne

Helmintholog (The Worm Book)
The Treachery of Technology:
oh jesus fuck
I just spent four hours straight with Robert Trivers, one of the
greatest biological theorists of our time. For two of them, I had a
digital voice recorder going, with a new battery carefully inserted
and all the old tracks on it deleted, a tricky business without the
manual. I checked after a couple of minutes to make sure it
wasworking. I watched that the little red light kept blinking … ah,
blinking. When I returned to my hotel room, exhaused but triumphant,
it turned out that I had somehow switched on the voice operated
recording function while deleting the old stuff in a coffee shop
before the interview, and it only operated when people spoke very
loudly. So I have a record of these two hours 35 minutes long and much
of that is laughter. ha ha ha.
I think we go for quote approval on this story.

UPDATE: went back and did another forty minutes, with everything
working. Now transcribed, though less funthan the original.

WormGuy, above, links to "The Weirdest Book I ever read - www.livejournal.com/users/theferrett/ 519211.html?thread=25103915#t25103915
and www.livejournal.com/users/ jwz/490497.html
which relate to www.pinkoski.com (a nother lot of stuff on creationism, but with some neat drawings & a fun theory of dinosaurs, with film suggestions)