Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #49

Posted on February 9, 2007 in Roundup

One piece of news that got buried at the end of the Los Angeles Times article about the decision by Nancy Pelosi to use a larger military jet to make a nonstop trip home to her California district is the announcement by House Sergeant at Arms Bill Livingood to the effect that he was the one who suggested using the larger plane instead of a smaller one which would need to stop and refuel. “I regret that an issue that is exclusively considered and decided in a security context has evolved into a political issue,” he said in a press release. In an age when they are the nonreformers, the Republicans will just grasp at anything to assail the first woman Speaker of the House.

• Undoing the Harm: Scientists discovered that an autism-like disorder called Rett’s Syndrome can be reversed by activating a single gene. Researchers say “It had been thought the disorder was caused by abnormal development – but activating the MECP2 gene, even in adulthood, proved to be effective in reversing neurological symptoms.” Let us not forget that what made this possible was the theory of evolution with its notion of inherited characteristics.
• Fellowship of the Sea: Japanese whalers and anti-whaling activists joined in a search for two activists who became separated from their group.
• Reality Gaming: Check out the game “Peacemaker” which is a simulation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from both sides of the wall. Elsewhere, in California, doctors are using a video game to try to help Iraq War veterans suffering from PTSD.
• No rest for the innocent: Dannielynn Stern, infant daughter of Anna Nicole Smith, will probably spend her whole life in the public eye thanks to the continuing battle over the estate of Texas oilman [[J. Howard Marshall]].
• Film Recommendation: This film is not yet rated Read how this film induced the MPAA to change some of its rules.
• Site Recommendation: Stop Sylvia Brown.
• Good Work Coming Home: If James Gray is found, the fruits of his own research may be the key that saves him. The computer scientist disappeared on a sailing trip to the Farallons for the purpose of scattering his mother’s ashes.
• Don’t touch that wall: Here’s a challenge for you — “How do you come here with equipment that doesn’t exist, solving a problem of seeing through walls without touching anything?” asks Maurizio Seracini, the expert who is assigned the task of peering behind a fresco by [[Vasari]] to see if it hides [[Leonardo Da Vinci|Leonardo Da Vinci’s]] long lost The Battle of Anghiari.

If you find any articles worthy of mention in these roundups, send the URL to gazissax at best dot com. And feel free to comment!

Insert a Trite Metaphor about a Corral #48

Posted on February 8, 2007 in Roundup

I realized something: Valentine’s Day comes just after the Ides of February. Though it’s not yet time, you might enjoy looking at some of the materials from the University of Iowa collections and the morbid love cards on the Comic Valentine’s page.

• Maybe They’re Getting the Jitters: A mistrial was declared in the case of Lt. [[Ehren Watada]].
• Helping the Terrorists: Check out this article in Vanity Fair which calls the proposed bombing of Iraq Dubya’s biggest blunder yet. More and more, I think we’re resembling Argentina in that our solutions are what are creating our problems. And no one in power wants to undo them because they all have empire on their minds. Stay tuned. (Thanks to Bill Lang.)
• The endurance of love: Check out this post by Gareth who reemerged after several months drowning in meatspace.
• Temporary Stupidity: Did you know that the Common Cold can lower your intelligence?
• Looking for Love in the Wrong Places: Check out Bill the Lawyer’s tale of a man who loved mannekins.
• One Less for the Tabloids: [[Anna Nicole Smith]] was found dead in a Miami hotel room. No cause of death as yet.
• Internet Storm Center: The Miami Dolphins weren’t the only website hit by the Chinese crackers. Here’s a list of other sites including pathnet.com and the City of Boston that were afflicted with the trojan. Poor Trojans: it wasn’t they who were the tricksters. Why don’t we call these sites Greeks? (Well, perhaps because the people of [[Troy]] are dead?) Here are three IPs to block from accessing your sites: 61.153.58.189, 220.162.244.78, and 205.209.132.142.

If you find any articles worthy of mention in these roundups, send the URL to gazissax at best dot com. And feel free to comment!

Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #47

Posted on February 7, 2007 in Roundup

I can’t believe that, after the Iraq lies, Democrats are actually keeping the option of a war in Iran “on the table”. We elected them for firm resolve after a wishy-washy six years of yessing Bush’s every whim. Still, the leading Democratic candidates for president play into the rhetoric. I have to agree with Joshua Frank who says: “Times like these require bravery. They require a fight. A fight against immoral and illegal policies. A fight against tyranny. A fight for freedom. Freedom from hatred. Freedom from occupation. Americans and the people of the Middle East deserve better than [[Hillary Clinton]], [[John Edwards]] and [[Barack Obama]]. They deserve to live their lives without the threat of warfare and bloodshed. They deserve to live without fear.”

On with the show:

• Helping the Terrorists: Bin Laden has no greater ally in this world than our leaders in Washington according to Adam Elkus. “According to Atwan’s analysis of [[al-Quaeda|al-Qaida’s]] “20-year plan,” the organization aimed to bring about the fall of the American empire by first provoking with the September 11 attacks — Washington into irrationally invading Muslim lands in pursuit of revenge. Al-Qaida’s grand strategists calculated that the invasion would propel the [[ummah|umma]], the Muslim community, into joining the [[jihad]]. Following the fall of the secular socialist Hussein regime, Iraq has indeed become a training ground for limitless waves of foreign jihadis.” Anyone who’s read [[Franz Fanon|Franz Fanon’s]] The Wretched of the Earth should have seen this coming. (In related news, the Guardian examines how bombers do little or nothing to win a war.)
• The Mind of A Criminal: “We think the older female who initiates the young boy in sexual activity is doing them some kind of favour,” says Dr Lisa Bunting, author of NSPCC report “Females who sexually offend against children”. Jacqui Saradjian, a clinical psychologist and author of Women Who Sexually Abuse Children, believes we just can’t picture women as abusers. “If you have a 14-year-old girl and a nearly 30-year-old man, then you’d think it was an assault. But if the victim’s a boy and the predator a woman, we don’t see that as an assault. So why is it different? We find it very difficult to picture the people – ie, women – we put in the caring, nurturing role as also the people who are committing abuse.” It seems to me that the issue isn’t one of assault or rape, but of interfering and rushing development in many cases involving both women and men. (This isn’t to deny the existence of genuine rapes by school teachers.) Read about the woman who may have inspired Notes on a Scandal.
• Governments and Their Toys: The much-ballyhooed epassport chips in Britain have only a two year warranty. “They are so new, no-one knows how long they will last, or how the scanners reading them will work, the National Audit Office said.”
• Cell Phones on Trial: NY is prepared to fine people who walk across the street listening to iPods or talking on their cell phones. “Government has an obligation to protect its citizenry,” [State Senator Carl] Kruger said in a telephone interview from Albany, the state capital. “This electronic gadgetry is reaching the point where it’s becoming not only endemic but it’s creating an atmosphere where we have a major public safety crisis at hand.” Was banning cell phone use in cars a slippery slope?
• The Opposite of What You’d Expect: The less you sleep the more likely you are to be overweight says a new study. “We found even an hour of sleep makes a big difference in weight status,” said Snell, a Northwestern doctoral student in human development and social policy. “Sleeping an additional hour reduced young children’s chance of being overweight from 36 percent to 30 percent, while it reduced older children’s risk from 34 percent to 30 percent.” I’m going to bed now.
• Another Study: Vagal nerve stimulation may do more than stave off depression. If mice are any indication, it can also prevent diabetes and hypertension.
• The Avant Garde: Check out this icon of Lenin trimming the beard of Saint Luke. Greek Orthodox traditionalists are up in arms about the image and threatening legal action.
• Too smart pet tricks: Observe this cat which figured out how to flush a toilet – repeatedly.

If you find any articles worthy of mention in these roundups, send the URL to gazissax at best dot com. And feel free to comment!

Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #46

Posted on February 6, 2007 in Roundup

He’s not a household name yet, but the court martial of Ehren Watada may go far in impressing the public about the immorality and illegality of the war in Iraq. Yesterday, he pled “not guilty” to missing movements and two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer. This latter charge strikes me as capricious: is not the conduct of our armed forces in Iraq — not to mention our president — unbecoming our nation? (And sometimes dangerous even to our allies?) We know how this trial will go, but it will make its mark as surely as the execution of [[Saddam Hussein]] backfired. Repeat the name of [[Ehren Watada]]. It stands for conscience.

• A Test Case: Bill Gates may not look so good for prosecuting Alexander Ponosov who is accused of pirating software for use on his school’s computers. Mikhail Gorbachev has stepped in and asked Gates to grant Ponosov a reprieve. “Many people in Russia regard this scandalous case as trumped-up,” said Gorbachev, “launched on the initiative of Microsoft corporation to set a precedent”. Ponosov claims that the software came with the computers.
• Lost in Space: A U.S. astronaut used pepper spray on a rival for the affections of a shuttle commander. Navy Capt Lisa Nowak is now being held without bail.
• Wicked Stepmother? A British mother and stepmother challenges the sociobiological model that insists that stepmothers care only about their own offspring. “Rather than pushing my stepchildren away once my baby daughter was born, I felt increased affection for them. Previously I’d sometimes found them demanding, but I now looked on them with something approaching awe. My stepchildren could manage without being constantly suckled, tended and changed.”
• Suffer the Little Children: Experts are divided over whether Iraqi children’s war play is a healthy means of coping or a repetition that will lead to violent acting out in adulthood. They will become adults in a world where the term “moderate” means “less extreme”.
• The [[Laffer Curve]] is a Joke: If you believe we can balance the budget by keeping taxes low, then you must be a Republican.
• Among the Dead: Flooding in Jakarta, Indonesia has driven hundreds of thousands of refugees into the city’s cemeteries as others try to live in six inches or more of water.

If you find any articles worthy of mention in these roundups, send the URL to gazissax at best dot com. And feel free to comment!

Insert a Trite Metaphor for a Corral #45

Posted on February 5, 2007 in Roundup

Everyone is excited by the arrest of movieland has-been Ryan O’Neil.

Insert A Trite Metaphor for A Corral #44

Posted on February 1, 2007 in Roundup

I’ll be out of town for a few days, enjoying our annual visit to the [[Lawrence Welk]] Resort in Escondido. Thus there will be no roundup until Sunday or Monday. Some people have expressed concern that the “old Joel” hasn’t been around. He’s had his reasons, but he shall try to return to his usual digest of daily life in Trabuco Canyon.

• Pity the mother of Antonio Vasconcelos (pictured above) who delivered that 6.6kg (14lb 8oz) whopper by Caesarean section in Cancun, Mexico. Ai chihuahua!
• Do you know what makes this year’s [[Super Bowl]] a major milestone? At no time in the previous history of the event has a team been coached by an African American. This year both teams have black coaches which cinches the first time an African American-led organization wins. We’re getting there. We’re getting there.
• A Russian woman using a mobile cell phone caught a hospital taping the mouths of orphan infants shut.
• [[Norfolk Island]] may have the lowest crime rate in the world: a New Zealand man may have upset the unblemished record by murdering a 29 year old Australiian restaurant manager. Nothing so spectacular has happened here since the [[Mutiny on the Bounty]].
• Passing: Gian Carlo Menotti, composer of Amhal and the Night Visitors and The Medium.
• So Bush Spake: “And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that exists in this town. And I’m sorry it’s the case, and I’ll work hard to try to elevate it.”— Speaking on National Public Radio, January 29, 2007. He’s in a league with [[Joe Biden]], that one is.
• There’s no inner clock researchers say: “If you toss a pebble into a lake, the ripples of water produced by the pebble’s impact act like a signature of the pebble’s entry time. The farther the ripples travel the more time has passed. We propose that a similar process takes place in the brain that allows it to track time,” he added. “Every time the brain processes a sensory event, such as a sound or flash of light, it triggers a cascade of reactions between brain cells and their connections. Each reaction leaves a signature that enables the brain-cell network to encode time.” Sounds like a kind of inner clock to me. Still, it would be interesting to see how the physiology of depression affects those ripples. Lord knows how time drags when you are not having fun.

If you find any articles worthy of mention in these roundups, send the URL to gazissax at best dot com. And feel free to comment!

Insert A Trite Metaphor for a Corral #43

Posted on February 1, 2007 in Roundup

There. My site is now porn.