[scifinoir2] Variations in fine-structure constant
ahar...@earthlink.net Variations in fine-structure constant The linked news story below is, to me, a really fascinating discovery. The possibility that physical constants vary in a particular direction across space has huge ramifications. http://www.physorg.com/news202921592.html It'll be interesting to see if this is confirmed.
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Finally Saw Inception
ahar...@earthlink.net I loved all three Matrix movies too! You're not alone! Amy From: Keith Johnson Sent: Sunday, September 05, 2010 12:00 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Finally Saw Inception Dude, put on your reading glasses! :) I haven't even *seen* Inception yet. Like i said, I am looking forward to seeing it, and am curious to compare glowing reviews against Bosco's more measured assessment. As for The Matrix, no your memory doesn't serve well at all. I loved the Matrix. Indeed, I'm one of the few who loves the second and third Matrix films. So much of the mainstream public who was pulled into the first film more for the innovative FX and action, bailed as the Wachowski brothers moved more into philosophy and spiritualism. Hence, the sequels are almost legendary as examples of a franchise's quality diminishing, but no, I wasn't on that boat. I loved all three flicks. - Original Message - From: Kelwyn ravena...@yahoo.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Sunday, September 5, 2010 11:10:23 AM Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Finally Saw Inception I am roping off the Keith Johnson/Bosco Bosco curmudgeon section of the theater (not that anything is wrong with that). If memory serves me correctly both of you were in the same (wrong) camp regarding the first Matrix movie - and, for many of the same reasons. As an old (former) friend once told me: There is no accounting for taste - AND YOU DON'T HAVE ANY! You can both be right and still be wrong. I recently saw The Hangover and I don't get it. It is stupid, pointlessly violent, (racist even) - but not funny. Millions beg to disagree with me. You two gentlemen obviously have both taste and erudition so I will just chalk this up to different strokes for different folks. ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@... wrote: I plan to see it later today, having been late to the party as well. I'm looking forward to it, based on your take, to compare against the hype. - Original Message - From: Bosco Bosco ironpi...@... To: Sci Fi Noir scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, September 4, 2010 11:44:59 PM Subject: [scifinoir2] Finally Saw Inception Lots of cool visual effects and technical complexities. It turns out the tech complexities are mostly irrelevant. In fact the entire dreaming and reality part of the story is pretty much pointless. It's a basically a sci fi twist on some really old themes. The sci fi part is really fun but those old themes have been conquered by better men with better skills both in director's chair and in front of the camera. I would hazard a guess that beyond some simple nostalgia in a few years no one will remember this one or care about it. It won't hold up. You can boil the entire movie down to father issues and regret issues and both have been done better and more intelligently. I know I'm late to the party and I'm clearly old because I don't find the hype accurate but I figured I would weigh in anyway Bosco
Re: [scifinoir2] Director Satoshi Kon passes away
ahar...@earthlink.net SHOCKING loss - way too young! He will be missed! Amy From: Mr. Worf Sent: Wednesday, August 25, 2010 5:31 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Director Satoshi Kon passes away 24/08/2010: Director Satoshi Kon passes away Perfect Blue and Paprika director dies, aged 46 This is breaking news just coming in as I type this, emanating from the Twitter account of GAINAX's Yasuhiro Takeda and later confirmed by Madhouse's Masao Maruyama via theOtakon committee, but the renowned and much-admired anime director Satoshi Kon passed away from pancreatic cancer yesterday at the age of 46. During his life, Kon was responsible for a numer of high-profile animated efforts featuring his distinctive themes and styles, not least the movies Perfect Blue and Paprika, as well as theParanoia Agent television series. I'm sure it goes without saying that Satoshi Kon's influence will be immensely missed by anime fans around the world, and our thoughts go out to his friends and family with this tragic news. Discuss in the UKA Forum -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] Movie - K-20
ahar...@earthlink.net I've seen Returner and yes, it is a very excellent SF action film. Amy From: Martin Baxter Sent: Monday, August 23, 2010 6:13 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Movie - K-20 I loved Returner so much that, ten minutes after seeing it for the first time on PPV, I owned it. On Mon, Aug 23, 2010 at 2:27 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: The Returner is on my list as well. I think my list is close to 900 movies now... On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 10:00 AM, Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.com wrote: Right off the bat, I want to know how he survived that initial jump without snapping both his ankles... And toss in the fact that the lead, Takeshi Kanashiro, was also the star of one truly underrated flick Returner, and I'm there! On Sun, Aug 22, 2010 at 6:33 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: This movie is kind of a cross between Zorro, Batman, and Desperado set in an alternate universe where WW2 never happened. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHnJnoo6SCYfeature=player_embedded K-20 : The Legend of The Mask (2008) Trailer 4 comments Posted by tarc on Aug 7, 2010 in Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama Its 1949 and World War II never happened. Nikola Tesla has just won a Nobel Prize rather than dying in obscurity and the Japanese Empire is an undying aristocracy where the rich sip tea out of bone china, while the poor die in the gutters. K-20, the Fiend with Twenty Faces, steals from the rich and gives to himself. But now, on the eve of the marriage between society princess, Yoko Hashiba, and chief of police, Kogoro Akechi, the fiend frames simple circus acrobat Hekichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) for his crimes and the poor sap is arrested and sentenced to death. But he escapes at thelast minute and assumes the guise of K-20 in order to clear his good name. Also Known As:“K-20: Kaijin nijû mensô den” Director: Shimako Sato Country: Japan Language: Japanese Subtitle: English Year: 2008 Genre: Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
Re: [scifinoir2] Movie - K-20
ahar...@earthlink.net I saw this at the 2009 NYAFF and it's wonderful! Don't miss it! Cheers! Amy From: Mr. Worf Sent: Sunday, August 22, 2010 6:33 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Movie - K-20 This movie is kind of a cross between Zorro, Batman, and Desperado set in an alternate universe where WW2 never happened. Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHnJnoo6SCYfeature=player_embedded K-20 : The Legend of The Mask (2008) Trailer 4 comments Posted by tarc on Aug 7, 2010 in Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama Its 1949 and World War II never happened. Nikola Tesla has just won a Nobel Prize rather than dying in obscurity and the Japanese Empire is an undying aristocracy where the rich sip tea out of bone china, while the poor die in the gutters. K-20, the Fiend with Twenty Faces, steals from the rich and gives to himself. But now, on the eve of the marriage between society princess, Yoko Hashiba, and chief of police, Kogoro Akechi, the fiend frames simple circus acrobat Hekichi Endo (Takeshi Kaneshiro) for his crimes and the poor sap is arrested and sentenced to death. But he escapes at thelast minute and assumes the guise of K-20 in order to clear his good name. Also Known As:“K-20: Kaijin nijû mensô den” Director: Shimako Sato Country: Japan Language: Japanese Subtitle: English Year: 2008 Genre: Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] 'Avatar' Re-Release Includes Alien Sex Scene
ahar...@earthlink.net I would love to see Avatar again and the added scene is a bonus enticement, absolutely! Cheers! Amy From: Martin Baxter Sent: Friday, August 13, 2010 3:08 PM To: SciFiNoir2 Subject: [scifinoir2] 'Avatar' Re-Release Includes Alien Sex Scene Is this trip really necessary? And would any of you take it? = 'Avatar' Re-Release Includes Alien Sex Scene James Cameron restores an intimate scene between Jake and Naytiri for the epic's end of the summer re-release By William Yelles TheWrap.com When Avatar returns to theaters in 3-D and 3-D IMAX for a limited engagement Aug. 27, among the eight minutes of new bonus footage is a scene that has had fanboys buzzing for months. It's been restored, every last frame of it. Seriously, director James Cameron tells MTV News. However, I would say, just so that we correctly manage people's expectations, it does not change our rating at all. I would call it more of an alien foreplay scene. It's not like they're ripping their clothes off and going at it. Naytiri (Zoe Saldana) and Jake's (Sam Worthington) lovemaking is described as the ultimate intimacy in the screenplay. They come together into a kiss and sink down on the bed of moss, and ripples of light spread out around them. Cameron is also said to be considering shooting the two sequels to Avatar back-to-back since the movies would involve so much motion capture and special effects work. He also claims to be working on a novelization of the first film. -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
[scifinoir2] [FYI] Don't be fooled: the Google-Verizon plan would kill Net Neutrality
ahar...@earthlink.net www.freepress.org is a good place to go to fight this too. -- From: brent wodehouse brent_wodeho...@thefence.us Sent: Wednesday, August 11, 2010 11:57 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] [FYI] Don't be fooled: the Google-Verizon plan would kill Net Neutrality http://thephoenix.com/Boston/news/106645-dont-be-fooled-the-google-verizon-plan-would-kil/ [ http://thephoenix.com/Boston/news/106645-dont-be-fooled-the-google-verizon-plan-would-kil/ ]Don't be fooled: the Google-Verizon plan would kill Net Neutrality Evil By [ http://thephoenix.com/Boston/Authors/EDITORIAL/ ]EDITORIAL | August 11, 201 Want evidence that Google is just another avaricious, monopoly-minded corporate behemoth? Consider this: Google has retreated from its long-held support for net neutrality and teamed with Verizon to suggest that new laws allow Internet providers to favor some Web services over others. Google and Verizon also want Congress to exempt mobile devices from net neutrality and to limit the Federal Communications Commission's regulation of the Internet. Google and Verizon have proposed this in a very simple and undeniably clever way, which - unless thoughtfully considered - appears to be eminently reasonable. Under this plan, the Internet as it now exists and is currently understood would remain net neutral. All content would be treated as equal. The Internet as it develops in the future, however, would be different. Tiered service would be allowed. In other words, the giant corporate providers who effectively govern access and regulate traffic would be able to give preferential treatment to certain content or content providers. This is, in and of itself, a nasty piece of snake-oil salesmanship, especially given the speed and unpredictability with which the digital world evolves. But when mobile access is stirred into the brew, it becomes positively toxic. All trends favor more and more mobile access. Morgan Stanley predicts that within five years, the mobile Web will outstrip the desktop Internet. Given the extent to which the Internet governs economic development and the extent to which it is the medium for free speech, it is clear that the Google-Verizon plan is bad news. So much for Google's motto, Don't be evil. To understand this pledge, it must be considered in context. The pithy slogan appears as the first three words in Google's corporate code of conduct governing relations with investors. Yet no corporation can survive, let alone thrive, without turning a profit. So it stands to reason that Googlers (yes, that's how the company refers to its employees) may have a less restricted view of how to interpret the motto than, say, the world's non-Googlers. If net neutrality were a simple code of conduct, then the FCC last year defined it as follows: providers cannot favor their own content; they need to explain when and why variable Internet speeds are imposed on consumers; and they can not limit access to lawful content. As neat and clean as these principles seem, their implementation could prove to be difficult to impossible, thanks to the Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, which in April ratified rules adopted by the Bush administration that were intended to derail Internet regulation. The court's decision undoubtedly contributed to the break-up last week of the closed-door discussions the FCC was holding with big Internet corporate players. Whether those talks should have been conducted in secret is now a moot point. But the parallels with former first lady Hillary Clinton's private health-care deliberations and Vice-President Dick Cheney's closed energy sessions are certainly troubling. Power, of course, abhors a vacuum. So while Google's joint proposal with Verizon was a vicious slap in the face to advocates of net neutrality - especially in view of the company's previous admirable support of the concept - under the circumstances it should come as no surprise. Consider the predatory vigor Google displayed when it cornered the digital market on books whose copyright has expired. Vito Corleone would have admired its ruthless elegance. However, Robert Darnton, the historian who heads Harvard's vast system of libraries, has been eloquent in pointing out the intellectual hazards of this development. It would be foolish to expect Congress to unplug the Google-Verizon view of the future. Massachusetts congressman Edward Markey has been foiled in his attempts to do so. But the FCC does have the power to short-circuit it. The FCC must reach back to precedent established since 1910 and declare Internet providers common carriers subject to federal regulation. This is not some cute form of legerdemain. It is legal hardball that would no doubt provoke a hotly contested lawsuit. If the FCC will not stand up to Google, who will? It is time that
Re: [scifinoir2] Movie Review – Ip Man
ahar...@earthlink.net I've seen both parts of Ip Man and they are wonderful martial arts films of the classic 'old school' style you thought they didn't make anymore. Thank goodness this style of kung-fu film does still exist! Another just as good homage to this genre is Gallants. Cheers! Amy Please do. On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 7:29 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: I'm checking out part 2 tomorrow. I will let you know how it is. On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 3:32 AM, Martin Baxter martinbaxt...@gmail.com wrote: Had to google it, Mr Worf, because it sounded familiar. I have seen this one, and share your enthusiasm for it, as well as recommending it to one and all. On Sun, Aug 8, 2010 at 5:16 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: Movie Review – Ip Man The movie Ip Man (It sounds funny but they go by last name first in China) was a surprisingly well-made little martial art film. Partially based on Man Yip the Wing Chun master from Hong Kong, it follows his beginning from his life in a small town called Fo Shen in the mid 1930s. Fo Shen is famous for its “Southern” style Kung Fu and has several schools located in the heart of the city. Ip (Played by Donny Yen) is well known in the town for being the absolute best martial artist in the region, but he does not teach and has no students. Despite his lack of a school, he is heavily involved in the Kung Fu social scene and is often challenged by teachers attempting to make a name for themselves. This is totally against his wife’s wishes. So despite Ip’s daily training, and his prime skill his wife would much rather have him go into business with Ip’s brother a subdued businessman. Soon, a baddie from the north appears with several men. He asks for the location of the Kung Fu schools and challenges every teacher on the block. It is not long before he hears about Ip and sets out to finds him. There is much more to the movie that I will not give away, but I must say that this film is on par with the old styled kick/punch Kung Fu movies that were made over the years. Very little wire work and great action! I highly recommend it! There is a part 2 to this film that I will also be reviewing as well. Directed by: Wilson Yip Pros: Great believable Kung Fu action. It reminded me of so many Kung Fu films that I have watched over the years on a Saturday night. The historical subplot took me by surprise. Cons: It is a little slow in the middle of the film, but it is understandable because the film switches modes. In Cantonese, Chinese, and Japanese with English subtitles 4 out of 5 stars -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
Re: [scifinoir2] Native American Paper Sculptures
ahar...@earthlink.net Wow! Amy On Wed, Jul 28, 2010 at 4:11 PM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: Native American Paper Sculptures These are absolutely Beautiful!!! Sculptures of Native American scenes made out of paper by Allen and Patty Eckman These stunningly detailed sculptures may only be made from paper - but they are being snapped up by art fans for tens of thousands of pounds. The intricate creations depict Native American scenes and took up to 11 months to make using a specially formulated paper Husband and wife team Allen and Patty Eckman put paper pulp into clay moulds and pressurise it to remove the water The hard, lightweight pieces are then removed and the couple painstakingly add detailed finishings with a wide range of tools They have been making the creations since 1987 at their home studio, in South Dakota , America , and have racked up a whopping £3 million selling the works of art The pieces depict traditional scenes from Native American history of Cherokees hunting and dancing The most expensive piece is called Prairie Edge Powwow which sold for £47,000 Allen said: We create Indians partly because my great, great grandmother was a Cherokee and my family on both sides admire the native Americans... ...I work on the men and animals and Patty does the women and children explains Allen I enjoy most doing the detail. The paper really lends itself to unlimited detail. I'm really interested in the Indians' material, physical and spiritual culture and that whole period of our nation's history I find fascinating. From the western expansion, through the Civil War and beyond is of great interest to me. Allen explained their technique: It should not be confused with papier mache. The two mediums are completely different. I call what we do 'cast paper sculpture' ...Some of them we create are lifesize and some we scale down to 1/6 lifesize These sculptures are posed as standing nude figures and limited detailed animals with no ears, tails or hair We transform them by sculpting on top of them - creating detail with soft and hard paper we make in various thicknesses and textures. We have really enjoyed the development of our fine art techniques over the years and have created a process that is worth sharing. There are many artists and sculptors who we believe will enjoy this medium as much as we have. -- http://MisfitsCafe. com/Diane -- If your world doesn't allow you to dream, move to one where you can. Billy Idol -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] Russia Elects First Black Politician
ahar...@earthlink.net Thanks for that! Glad to know this. Amy Russia Elects First Black Politician Posted by admin on July 26, 2010 0 Comment For the first time in their history, Russia has elected a black man to hold political office. Jean Gregoire Sagbo was elected as a councilman in Novozavidovo. Sagbo, who was born in Africa, has lived in Novozavidovo for 21 years and raised his family there. Russia has a history of extreme racial violence, making this election a significant milestone. Sagbo made many key promises for the impoverished town, saying he wants to curb drug addiction, put heating in homes, and clean up pollution. Vyacheslav Arakelov, the mayor of Novozavidovo, says that Sagbo is Russian inside and that he cares deeply for his hometown. Sagbo will be one of ten councilmen for the city. Sagbo came to Russia in 1982 to study economics when the country was still under Soviet rule. His wife is from Novozavidovo originally, and they raised their two children there. Sagbo works as a real estate negotiator, and his council position will be unpaid. After initially having no desire to pursue politics, he was persuaded to run by residents of the town. While Russia has a checkered racial history, Sagbo says he hasn’t felt any racism. Once a prosperous town, Novozavidovo suffered after the fall of Communism. Sagbo hopes to do his part to rebuild the town. -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
[scifinoir2] Ranger walking robot sets new world record at 1.34mph
ahar...@earthlink.net Way cool! Ranger walking robot sets new world record at 1.34mph Ranger walking robot sets new world record at 1.34mph By Darren Quick 00:26 July 26, 2010 5 Pictures Cornell Ranger gets a walking buddy in Fatemeh Hasaneini, a daughter of one of the students who worked on the robot Image Gallery (5 images) Dog Leash Walking - Iams.com/Dog-Leash Train Your Dog to Walk on a Leash with Easy to Follow Tips from Iams. San Francisco Dog Walking - www.allsmilespetcare.com Dog walking/pet sitting with love! Lic. Bonded. Insured. Fun. Robot for Prostate Cancer - www.InternationalHIFU.com Learn about ALL your options for prostate cancer therapy. 3D Prototype Machine - www.rolanddga.com Better Lifetime Value. No Fees and Lower Material Costs. Learn More! Ads by Google It might not have been setting a cracking pace, but a Cornell University robot named Ranger set an unofficial world record on July 6 when it walked 14.3 miles in about 11 hours on a single charge. The untethered, four-legged bipedal robot was steered around the 1/8-mile indoor track in Cornell’s Barton Hall by a human operator using a standard toy remote control some 108.5 times. On its record setting journey Ranger made 65,185 steps, beating the former record for an untethered legged robot of 12.8 miles set by Boston Dynamics’ BigDog. Standing still, Ranger looks a bit like a tall sawhorse and its gait suggests a human on crutches, alternately swinging forward two outside legs and then two inside ones. There are no knees, but its feet can flip up out of the way, while it swings its legs so that the robot can finish its step. The robot also features two blue foam “eyes” that are purely for fall protection, as are the black foam “ears.” One of the goals of the attempt was to show off the machine’s energy efficiency. Unlike other walking robots that use motors to control every movement, its creators say the Ranger appears more relaxed and in a way emulates human walking, using gravity and momentum to help swing its legs forward. It is powered by a 24.9V Lithium-ion battery and weighs a total of 18.6 lbs. Because the robot walked in lanes two and three, the distance per lap is a bit more than an eighth of a mile; its path was measured at 212.3 meters per lap, giving it a total walk distance of (212.3 m)(108.5) = 23,034 m = 23.0 kilometers = 14.3 miles. Over the course of its journey the robot’s average speed was 1.34 mph (2.15km/h) with 13.9-inches average distance per step and an average time per step of 59 seconds. Ranger's long walk started Monday at 2:08 p.m. and ended at 12:48 a.m. Tuesday July 6, 2010 when its batteries went dead, for a total walk time of 10 hours, 40 minutes, 48 seconds. This is not the first time Ranger has held the record. In April 2008 it strode about 5.6 miles around the Barton Hall to set the record, before Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robot claimed the title by traveling 12.8 miles without stopping or refueling. Also, two days before setting out on his record setting walk Ranger had walked 13 miles on one charge. So, not counting running out of juice, Ranger walked more than 27 miles without failure. Ranger was built by a group of engineering students led by Andy Ruina, Cornell professor of theoretical and applied mechanics, who says the new record not only advances robotics, but helps undergraduate students learn about the mechanics of walking. The information could be applied to rehabilitation, prostheses for humans and improving athletic performance, she says. Gallery Images a.. b.. c.. d.. -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] The World Ebon today: Vogue Africa
ahar...@earthlink.net I love it - Vogue Africa? Of course! Amy -- From: Kelwyn ravena...@yahoo.com Sent: Friday, July 23, 2010 11:10 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] The World Ebon today: Vogue Africa http://fashionbombdaily.com/2010/04/21/fashion-fun-photographer-mario-epanya-imagines-6-covers-for-a-fictional-vogue-africa/ Paris based makeup artist and photographer Mario Epanya conceived of several breathtaking covers for what apparently would represent a future Vogue Africa. As you may be aware, there is currently no actual edition of African Vogue. Yes, there's a Vogue Nippon, Vogue India, and even a Vogue Australia-but no Vogue for an entire continent rich in culture, diversity, and, of course, lots of fashion. I think an African Vogue would be positively refreshing and potentially quite well received. I've heard South African fashion week is bubbling over with talent-why not have a Vogue Africa? http://www.theworldebon.blogspot.com/ Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links
Re: [scifinoir2] Man builds War Machine suit
ahar...@earthlink.net WOW! 'Nuff said! Amy From: Mr. Worf Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 8:16 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Man builds War Machine suit Mr.Worf wants to share this great news called Iron Man War Machine in Real Life on DesignersCouch. Please check it here: http://designerscouch.org/show_news/1113/iron-man-war-machine-in-real-life.html Best Regards, DesignersCouch. www.designerscouch.org -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
Re: [scifinoir2] Movie Review - RoboGeisha
ahar...@earthlink.net I saw this film at a special screening at Japan Society and I loved it. I also love Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police. If you love wacky extreme action fantasy - you'll love Robo Geisha! Cheers! Amy Movie Review: RoboGeisha Finally released in England on DVD, RoboGeisha takes a sci-fi / dark comedy look at martial art films. What would be the least likely person to be a dangerous killer in Japan? Answer, the lowly and submissive geisha. The film is about a young woman name Yoshie that is quiet and often bullied by her attractive older sister Kikue. While her older sister works as a geisha, Yoshie finds herself cleaning the geisha house and ignored. Yoshie is often bullied by Kikue and we meet her character with low self-esteem. After a fight with Kikue, for ruining her performance for a handsome young ceo, Yoshie is spotted tearing a phonebook in half with her bare hands and is drafted into an evil secret assassin group by the ceo. His organization is a right wing extremist group that plans to use geisha assassins to “correct” what they see as the source of problems in Japan. (Mostly Yakuza members and corrupt politicians.) The company has big plans for Japan and the CEO and his father are ruthless about it. After intense training, Yoshie quickly becomes the most skilled out of the large team of assassins. She enjoys the recognition that she is finally receiving and gains confidence. Soon Kikue becomes the teams discipline enforcer by killing anyone that gets out of line. For their excellent work, the two women are given robotic additions to their bodies including hidden swords and machine guns. (I will not tell you where.) The action in the film is similar to Machine Girl. The people that created Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police also created this film, so if you have watched either film you know what to expect. The special effects are pretty interesting to see and some look as if they are in 3d! There is also a different type of camera shake that they use in the film that is not as bad as American made films. Overall, there is a certain level of silliness that shows up in the action scenes that pokes fun at the tradition of geishas in this film. They also poke fun at sexuality, which seems to appear in many action films as well as anime that come from Japan. It may be a running joke in Japan, but it definitely shows in this film. The director Noboru Iguchi does pull you into his strange alternate universe and makes you want to see more of it. Pros: Some of the effects are very cool and new, Very quirky and funny film. The fight scenes are exciting and contain a high level of silliness that offsets the splatterific gore. Cons: There are some slow spots that take away a bit from the pacing of the overall film but it creates a subplot. Some effects do not look like they were fully rendered. Japanese with English subtitles. Unavailable in the US unless you have a friend that has it. Rated PG13 3.5 stars out of 5 -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
[scifinoir2] 7th-Graders Discover Mysterious Cave on Mars
ahar...@earthlink.net How cool is that! http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/students-discover-mars-cave-100621.html 7th-Graders Discover Mysterious Cave on Mars By Clara Moskowitz Senior Writer posted: 21 June 2010 A group of seventh-graders in California has discovered a mysterious cave on Mars as part of a research project to study images taken by a NASA spacecraft orbiting the red planet. The 16 students from teacher Dennis Mitchell's 7th-grade science class at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, Calif., found what looks to be a Martian skylight - a hole in the roof of a cave on Mars [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/091026-mm-mars-caves.html]. The intrepid students were participating in the Mars Student Imaging Program at the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University. The program allows students to frame a research question and then commission a Mars-orbiting camera to take an image to answer their question. The newfound hole on Mars [http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=students-discover-mars-cave-100621-02.jpgcap=California+7th+graders+discovered+this+Martian+pit+feature+at+the+center+of+the+superimposed+red+square+in+this+image+while+participat ing+in+a+program+that+enables+students+to+use+the+camera+on+NASA%27s+Mars+Odyssey+orbiter.+The+feature%2C+on+the+slope+of+an+equatorial+volcano+named+Pavonis+Mons%2C+appears+to+be+a+skylight+in+an+underground+lava+tube.+%3Ca+href%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.s pace.com%2Fscienceastronomy%2Fstudents-discover-mars-cave-100621.html%3EFull+Story%3C%2Fa%3E.+Credit%3A+NASA%2FJPL-Caltech%2FASU] resembled features seen on other parts of Mars in a 2007 study by Glen Cushing, a U.S. Geological Survey scientist. Cushing suggested that these anomalous pit craters [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070605_mars_hole.html ] are like skylights - places where a small part of the roof of a cave or a lava tube had collapsed, opening the area below the surface to the sky. The caves are thought to result from volcanic activity on the red planet. At some point lava channels likely carved out caverns in the rock, and then left behind tunnel, or lava tubes, when the eruptions were over. They would have been covered when a solid ceiling of cooled material settled on top, and then sections of the ceiling likely collapsed at some point to form the skylight entrances. Scientists aren't sure what type of materials or deposits could be stored inside. This pit is certainly new to us, Cushing told the students. And it is only the second one known to be associated with Pavonis Mons. He estimated the pit to be approximately 620 by 520 feet (190 by 160 meters) wide and 380 feet (115 meters) deep at least. The young researchers had initially set out to hunt for lava tubes, a common volcanic feature on Earth and Mars. The students developed a research project focused on finding the most common locations of lava tubes on Mars, Mitchell said. Do they occur most often near the summit of a volcano, on its flanks, or the plains surrounding it? The class commissioned a main photo and a backup image of Mars' Pavonis Monsvolcano [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/solarsystem/mars_daily_020507.html], targeted on a region that hadn't been imaged up close. The pictures were taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter [http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090312-odyssey-reboot.html ] using its Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) instrument. Both images showed lava tubes, as the students had hoped. But the backup photo provided another surprise: a small, round black spot. It was a hole on Mars leading into the buried cave, researchers said. The students have submitted their site to be further imaged by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which could reveal enough detail to see inside the hole in the ground. The Mars Student Imaging Program is certainly one of the greatest educational programs ever developed, Mitchell said. It gives the students a good understanding of the way research is conducted and how that research can be important for the scientific community. This has been a wonderful experience.
Re: [scifinoir2] Why the hatred for Jaden Smith?
ahar...@earthlink.net I'm really looking forward to seeing this film. I liked the trailers and I love Jackie Chan. I hate the title. The story has nothing to do with Karate which is a Japanese thing. It is about kung-fu and China! This film's title insults billions of Chinese people all over the world that Hollywood is so greedy to sell tickets by exploiting the Karate Kid franchise that they think folks are too stupid to tell the difference between Karate and Kung-fu? All those slanty-eyed Asians are all alike, eh? Typical Hollywood willful ignorance. They could have correctly and accurately called this film Kung-Fu Kid and with Jackie Chan's name on it, sold just as many tickets I bet! I'll still go for Jackie Chan, if nothing else. Amy It's not Jaden. It's his parents. The world hates his parents but worship money too much to say it to their faces. Generation X and early Y are under-achievers. We coin phrases like underwhelm. Will and Jada do what they say they're gonna do. Collectively, we don't like that. And so yeah, they're gonna be hatred towards BOTH kids. Wait till Willow's album drops. What has amazed me is the amount of BLACK hatred towards Jaden. We keep hating on young people who are doing good work, and we wonder why the majority of young people wanna stay under-achievers. On Jun 21, 2010, at 10:26 AM, ravenadal wrote: http://movie-critics.ew.com/2010/06/18/why-the-hatred-for-jaden-smith/ What is Jaden Smith's crime? Last weekend, the up-and-coming young actor, who will turn 12 this July 8, starred in a remake of The Karate Kid that audiences flocked to beyond expectation and, from all available evidence, loved. Given that Smith is front and center in more or less every frame of the 2 hour and 20 minute movie (and given that his performance, as a kid who hides his sadness behind a mask of surliness, is — to this critic, at least — a magnetic and affecting piece of acting), I hope we can all agree that Jaden Smith's presence on screen had a little something to do with the movie's success. Yet Smith's rise has been greeted, in far too many quarters (including a number of comment boards on ew.com, like the one on my review), with bitter, gnashing resentment. This 11-year-old really has the haters foaming.
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Why the hatred for Jaden Smith?
ahar...@earthlink.net Thanks for that info! I'm still insulted that Hollywood thinks Americans are too stupid to get the difference between Karate and Kung-Fu! Amy +1 Informative. ~ Where love and magic meet ~ http://www.adriannebrennan.com Experience the magic of the Dark Moon series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#darkmoon Dare to take The Oath in this erotic fantasy series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#the_oath The future of psychic sex - Dawn of the Seraphs (m/m): http://www.adriannebrennan.com/dawnoftheseraphs.html On Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 4:11 PM, Kelwyn ravena...@yahoo.com wrote: In this instance the filmmakers have crossed their ts and dotted their is. The film is known as The Kung Fu Kid internationally and Best Kid in Japan. ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Amy Harlib ahar...@... wrote: ahar...@... I'm really looking forward to seeing this film. I liked the trailers and I love Jackie Chan. I hate the title. The story has nothing to do with Karate which is a Japanese thing. It is about kung-fu and China! This film's title insults billions of Chinese people all over the world that Hollywood is so greedy to sell tickets by exploiting the Karate Kid franchise that they think folks are too stupid to tell the difference between Karate and Kung-fu? All those slanty-eyed Asians are all alike, eh? Typical Hollywood willful ignorance. They could have correctly and accurately called this film Kung-Fu Kid and with Jackie Chan's name on it, sold just as many tickets I bet! I'll still go for Jackie Chan, if nothing else. Amy It's not Jaden. It's his parents. The world hates his parents but worship money too much to say it to their faces. Generation X and early Y are under-achievers. We coin phrases like underwhelm. Will and Jada do what they say they're gonna do. Collectively, we don't like that. And so yeah, they're gonna be hatred towards BOTH kids. Wait till Willow's album drops. What has amazed me is the amount of BLACK hatred towards Jaden. We keep hating on young people who are doing good work, and we wonder why the majority of young people wanna stay under-achievers. On Jun 21, 2010, at 10:26 AM, ravenadal wrote: http://movie-critics.ew.com/2010/06/18/why-the-hatred-for-jaden-smith/ What is Jaden Smith's crime? Last weekend, the up-and-coming young actor, who will turn 12 this July 8, starred in a remake of The Karate Kid that audiences flocked to beyond expectation and, from all available evidence, loved. Given that Smith is front and center in more or less every frame of the 2 hour and 20 minute movie (and given that his performance, as a kid who hides his sadness behind a mask of surliness, is — to this critic, at least — a magnetic and affecting piece of acting), I hope we can all agree that Jaden Smith's presence on screen had a little something to do with the movie's success. Yet Smith's rise has been greeted, in far too many quarters (including a number of comment boards on ew.com, like the one on my review), with bitter, gnashing resentment. This 11-year-old really has the haters foaming. Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/
Re: [scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Sense of direction may be innate
ahar...@earthlink.net Not everyone is going to have any ability to the same degree. We all fall somewhere on the Bell Curve. Then mine must be off slightly, Amy. When it comes to driving, I can nail almost anywhere within reason, but don't ask me *how* to get there. I'll invariably point you in exactly the wrong direction. On Fri, Jun 18, 2010 at 1:52 PM, Amy Harlib ahar...@earthlink.net wrote: ahar...@earthlink.net From: World Science Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:14 PM To: emailn...@world-science.net Subject: World Science: Sense of direction may be innate * Sense of direction may be innate: New research suggests the brain comes hard-wired with working navigational cells. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100616_direction * Ocean covered a third of Mars, study concludes: An ancient ocean was probably part of an Earth-like water cycle that included rain, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100612_mars * Study points to why stress may affect women more: Studying rat brains, researchers found that females are more sensitive than males to low levels of a stress hormone. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100616_stress * Trust hormone may drive aggression between groups: The compound oxytocin's well known role in social relationships may also extend to promoting group defense, a study suggests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100615_oxytocin * Neighborhood violence may impair kids' thinking: Local violence may impair a child's ability to think, even if he or she didn't see the violence directly, a study finds. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100614_violence World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Sense of direction may be innate
ahar...@earthlink.net From: World Science Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2010 2:14 PM To: emailn...@world-science.net Subject: World Science: Sense of direction may be innate * Sense of direction may be innate: New research suggests the brain comes hard-wired with working navigational cells. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100616_direction * Ocean covered a third of Mars, study concludes: An ancient ocean was probably part of an Earth-like water cycle that included rain, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100612_mars * Study points to why stress may affect women more: Studying rat brains, researchers found that females are more sensitive than males to low levels of a stress hormone. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100616_stress * Trust hormone may drive aggression between groups: The compound oxytocin's well known role in social relationships may also extend to promoting group defense, a study suggests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100615_oxytocin * Neighborhood violence may impair kids' thinking: Local violence may impair a child's ability to think, even if he or she didn't see the violence directly, a study finds. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100614_violence World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional.
Re: [scifinoir2] Template for Life on Mars Found
ahar...@earthlink.net Wow stuff. Template for Life on Mars Found A shallow spring in Canada holds a type of bacteria that could thrive on Mars. By Irene Klotz Wed Jun 9, 2010 01:00 PM ET 2 Comments | Leave a Comment Print Email a.. Facebook b.. Twitter c.. Digg d.. Yahoo! Buzz THE GIST a.. Methane-eating bacteria have been found in an environment similar to conditions on Mars. b.. The discovery may also explain Mars' mysterious plumes of methane. c.. Life in extreme environments on Earth can serve as guideposts to determine where life may exist elsewhere. enlarge The team found two types of bacteria living in Lost Hammer that feed off the methane and likely breathe sulfate. Click to enlarge this image. Thomas Niederberger RELATED CONTENT Will the real ET be little green men or little green bacteria? a.. Are We Infecting Mars With Our Germs? b.. Mars to NASA: Forget Water, Follow the Methane RELATED TOPICS a.. Arctic Regions b.. Bacteria c.. Environment d.. Geology e.. Mars A new species of bacteria that feeds off methane and breathes something other than oxygen has been found living in a salty Arctic spring. The discovery hints at an ecosystem that could have -- or may still -- exist on Mars. The bacteria were found in Lost Hammer, a shallow spring located on Canada's Axel Heiberg Island. The spring, which is about 25 percent salt, never freezes despite sub-zero temperatures most of the year. The first time we went there we noticed there were bubbles coming off the spring, McGill University microbiologist Lyle Whyte told Discovery News. Analysis showed the gas was 50 percent methane -- an unusually high concentration -- and was not being produced by living organisms, such as methanogenic bacteria. Rather, the gas resulted from geology -- the interactions of water and rock. That was a surprise, Whyte said. There was more to come: The team found two types of bacteria living in Lost Hammer that feed off the methane and likely breathe sulfate, since there is no usable oxygen in the water. The discovery adds a new twist to the debate about possible life on Mars, a cold, dry world that in many ways resembles the Canadian Arctic. Pockets of methane have been found on Mars, with no clear explanation to their origins. The new research shows that even if Mars' methane is determined to come from non-biologic sources, it could actually be food for a whole different type of bacteria. The methane-eating microbes are common on Earth, but the discovery in the Canadian Arctic is believed to be the first time they've been found in a non-marine environment. We've added another group of bacteria that could exist on Mars, Whyte said. If we were to find life of any kind on Mars, that would be a hell of a discovery. The consensus is that we evolved from microbes in the first place, so to find life is really a significant finding. Right now, we're looking for the plumbing that allows life to exist, added Dale Anderson, a Mars scientist with the SETI Institute. What we're trying to do here on Earth is learn how life goes about its business -- from the temperate regions to the more extreme environments that we find in polar springs or hot vents -- and understand how microorganisms use those environments and cope with the challenges. We may not find the same thing on Mars. We may find that it has a completely independent genesis of life... or we could find out it's the same because Mars and Earth have been 'swapping spit' for the last 4 billion years or so, Anderson said. In addition to adding a new bacterial species to the list of possible Mars life forms, the Lost Hammer research also shows a geologic mechanism which could explain the mysterious methane plumes on Mars. The research is being published in the International Society for Microbial Ecology Journal. http://news.discovery.com/space/arctic-bacteria-mars-methane.html
Re: [scifinoir2] Rare photo of slave children found in NC attic
ahar...@earthlink.net Keith, couldn't have said it better myself - Amen. Amy From: Keith Johnson Sent: Thursday, June 10, 2010 10:19 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Rare photo of slave children found in NC attic Wow, this is something else. So haunting: what were those kids thinking about? What kid of lives would they go on to lead? Did they ever truly taste whatever passed for freedom in those times (cause post-slavery sure as hell ain't the same as being free). Did they ever learn to read and write, own a home, start a business? Were they in the end happy? And what would they have said if someone had gone up to them and said, one day the President of these United States will be a Negro--but it'll take another 150 years? Would they gasp with wonder and joy, or be sad at the fact they wouldn't live to see it--assuming they could even dream of such a thing? Truly an experience staring into those eyes and wondering... [Yahoo News] Rare photo of slave children found in NC attic AP – An undated rare photo provided by Keya Morgan, found in a North Carolina attic, depicts two slave children, … a.. By NICOLE NORFLEET, Associated Press Writer Nicole Norfleet, Associated Press Writer – 46 mins ago RALEIGH, N.C. – A haunting 150-year-old photo found in a North Carolina attic shows a young black child named John, barefoot and wearing ragged clothes, perched on a barrel next to another unidentified young boy. Art historians believe it's an extremely rare Civil War-era photograph of children who were either slaves at the time or recently emancipated. The photo, which may have been taken in the early 1860s, was a testament to a dark part of American history, said Will Stapp, a photographic historian and founding curator of the National Portrait Gallery's photographs department at the Smithsonian Institution. It's a very difficult and poignant piece of American history, he said. What you are looking at when you look at this photo are two boys who were victims of that history. In April, the photo was found at a moving sale in Charlotte, accompanied by a document detailing the sale of John for $1,150, not a small sum in 1854. New York collector Keya Morgan said he paid $30,000 for the photo album including the photo of the young boys and several family pictures and $20,000 for the sale document. Morgan said the deceased owner of the home where the photo was found was thought to be a descendant of John. A portrait of slave children is rare, Morgan said. I buy stuff all the time, but this shocked me, he said. What makes the picture an even more compelling find is that several art experts said it was created by the photography studio of Mathew Brady, a famous 19th-century photographer known for his portraits of historical figures such as President Abraham Lincoln and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Stapp said the photo was probably not taken by Brady himself but by Timothy O'Sullivan, one of Brady's apprentices. O'Sullivan took a multitude of photos depicting the carnage of the Civil War. In 1862, O'Sullivan famously photographed a group of some of the first slaves liberated after Lincoln issued his preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Such photos were circulated in the North by abolitionists to garner support for the Union during the Civil War, said Harold Holzer, an author of several books about Lincoln. Holzer works as an administrator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Most of the photos depicted adult slaves who had been beaten or whipped, he said. The photo of the two boys is more subtle, Holzer said, which may be why it wasn't widely circulated and remained unpublished for so long. To me, it's such a moving and astonishing picture, he said. Ron Soodalter, an author and member of the board of directors at the Abraham Lincoln Institute in Washington, D.C., said the photo depicts the reality of slavery. I think this picture shows that the institution of slavery didn't pick or choose, said Soodalter, who has written several books on historic and modern slavery. This was a generic horror. It victimized the old, the young. For now, Morgan said, he is keeping the photo in his personal collection, but he said he has had an inquiry to sell the photo to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He said he is considering participating in the creation of a video documentary about John. This kid was abused and mistreated and people forgot about him, Morgan said. He doesn't even exist in history. And to know that there were a million children who were like him. I've never seen another photo like that that speaks so much for children.
[scifinoir2] Strange Discovery on Titan Leads to Speculation of Alien Life
ahar...@earthlink.net FASCINATING! Strange Discovery on Titan Leads to Speculation of Alien Life http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/titan-life-methane-speculation-100607.html Strange Discovery on Titan Leads to Speculation of Alien Life By Charles Q. Choi SPACE.com Contributor posted: 07 June 2010 New findings have roused a great deal of hoopla over the possibility of life on Saturn's moon Titan, which some news reports have further hyped up as hints of extraterrestrials. However, scientists also caution that aliens might have nothing to do with these findings. All this excitement is rooted in analyses of chemical data returned by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. One study suggested that hydrogen was flowing down through Titan's atmosphere and disappearing at the surface. Astrobiologist Chris McKay at NASA Ames Research Center speculated this could be a tantalizing hint that hydrogen is getting consumed by life. It's the obvious gas for life to consume on Titan [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/asphalt-lake-life-on-titan-100505.html], similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth, McKay said. Another study investigating hydrocarbons on Titan's surface found a lack of acetylene, a compound that could be consumed as food by life that relies on liquid methane instead of liquid water to live. If these signs do turn out to be a sign of life [http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/070806_GM_life_universe.html], it would be doubly exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth, McKay said. However, NASA scientists caution that aliens might not be involved at all. Scientific conservatism suggests that a biological explanation should be the last choice after all non-biological explanations are addressed, said Mark Allen, principal investigator with the NASA Astrobiology Institute Titan team. We have a lot of work to do to rule out possible non-biological explanations. It is more likely that a chemical process, without biology, can explain these results. Both results are still preliminary, McKay told SPACE.com. To date, methane-based life forms [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/090625-am-titan-chemistry.html] are only speculative, with McKay proposing a set of conditions necessary for these kinds of organisms on Titan in 2005. Scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere, although there are liquid-water-based microbes on Earth that thrive on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan, where temperatures are around minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 179 degrees Celsius), any organisms would have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes. Water itself cannot do, because it is frozen solid on Titan's surface. The list of liquid candidates is very short -- liquid methane and related molecules such as ethane. Previous studies have found Titan to have lakes of liquid methane [http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/091221-titan-flash-lake.html]. Missing hydrogen? The dearth of hydrogen Cassini detected is consistent with conditions that could produce methane-based life, but do not conclusively prove its existence, cautioned researcher Darrell Strobel, a Cassini interdisciplinary scientist based at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., who authored the paper on hydrogen appearing online in the journal Icarus. Strobel looked at densities of hydrogen in different parts of the atmosphere and the surface. Previous models from scientists had predicted that hydrogen molecules, a byproduct of ultraviolet sunlight breaking apart acetylene and methane molecules in the upper atmosphere, should be distributed fairly evenly throughout the atmospheric layers. Strobel's computer simulations suggest a hydrogen flow down to the surface at a rate of about 10,000 trillion trillion molecules per second. It's as if you have a hose and you're squirting hydrogen onto the ground, but it's disappearing, Strobel said. I didn't expect this result, because molecular hydrogen is extremely chemically inert in the atmosphere, very light and buoyant. It should 'float' to the top of the atmosphere and escape. Strobel said it is not likely that hydrogen is being stored in a cave or underground space on Titan. An unknown mineral could be acting as a catalyst on Titan's surface to help convert hydrogen molecules and acetylene back to methane. Although Allen commended Strobel, he noted a more sophisticated model might be needed to look into what the flow of hydrogen is. Consumed acetylene? Scientists had expected the sun's interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce acetylene that falls down to coat the Titan surface. But Cassini mapped hydrocarbons on Titan's surface, it detected no acetylene on the surface, findings appearing online in the Journal of Geophysical Research. Instead of alien life on Titan
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: First cell made with artificial genes reported
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. From: World Science Sent: Friday, May 21, 2010 12:06 AM To: emailn...@world-science.net Subject: World Science: First cell made with artificial genes reported * Scientists report first cell made with artificial genes: Their synthetic genome is a near-copy of a natural one, but researchers say their method can be used to better understand the workings of life. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100520_synthetic * Mysterious ball lightning may be brain illusion: A new theory addresses a mysterious phenomenon in which lightning apparently forms into a ball and starts floating around. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100519_ball-lightning * Mom's hugs in youth may help keep doctor away later: Warmth and caring from a person's mother seems to reduce the formation of proteins that promote inflammation, researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100518_warmth * Can a mother's voice spur coma recovery?: A clinical trial is investigating whether repeated stimulation with familiar voices can help repair a coma victim's brain. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100510_coma.htm ADDITIONAL NEWS * Garden birds found to shun organic: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100518_organic * Mozart effect disputed: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100509_mozart * Calcium early in life may help prevent obesity later: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100514_calcium * Why is breast milk best? It's in the genes, scientists say: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100513_milk World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional.
Re: [scifinoir2] Robo-Geisha
ahar...@earthlink.net There is a screening here in NYC Tues. May 18th at Japan Society and it's sold out. I already have my ticket and can't wait! I just love this kind of wackiness! Cheers! Amy Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Robo-Geisha I'd attend just to see that. On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 2:48 AM, Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com wrote: They are showing the movie RoboGeisha at the Seattle International film festival! Here is some info on the film fest and the trailer: http://www.siff.net/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=38514FID=166 -- If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script? -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
[scifinoir2] Scientists create organic 'molecular computer'
ahar...@earthlink.net WOW! Scientists create organic 'molecular computer' By Dario Borghino 17:37 May 10, 2010 Researchers have succeeded in building a molecular computer that can mimic the inner working mechanisms of the human brain Synthesis-to-Clinic - www.quotientbioresearch.com Joining the dots for C-14 enabled early phase development Online IT Degree w/Certs - www.WGU.edu Accredited Online Bachelors Degree Current Certs Waive up to 25% The Subconscious Mind - www.QuantumJumping.com Learn How to Jump Into Any Reality You Desire... For Real Molecular Engineer Degree - Info.Degree.net Boost Your Career. Become A Molecular Engineer Online. Enroll! Ads by Google Submit Researchers from Japan and the Michigan Technological University have succeeded in building a molecular computer that, more than any previous project of its kind, can replicate the inner mechanisms of the human brain, repairing itself and mimicking the massive parallelism that allows our brains to process information like no silicon-based computer can. A relatively new technology, molecular electronics is an interdisciplinary pursuit that may very well prove the long-term solution to validate Moore's law well into the next century. A molecular computer is made of organic molecules instead of silicon. Chips built this way are not only potentially much smaller but also, because of the way they can be networked, able to do things that no other traditional computer, regardless of its speed, can do. Modern computers are quite fast, capable of executing trillions of instructions a second, but they can't match the intelligent performance of our brain, Michigan Tech physicist Ranjit Pati commented. Our neurons only fire about a thousand times per second. But I can see you, recognize you, talk with you, and hear someone walking by in the hallway almost instantaneously, a Herculean task for even the fastest computer. The key lays in the massive parallelism and versatility of the human brain, as the electrical impulses that travel through it follow vast, dynamic neural paths that operate collectively, constantly communicating with each other. In digital computers, by contrast, information processing is done sequentially, with recent advancements such as multicore processors and GPU processing altering the picture only slightly. The researchers built a molecular computer by placing DDQ — a hexagonal molecule made of nitrogen, oxygen, chlorine and carbon that self-assembles in two layers — on a gold substrate. Crucially, this molecule has the ability to easily switch among four conducting states (compared to the only two used by a standard computer), which simplifies the read/write mechanisms and speeds up the data crunching. The neat part is, approximately 300 molecules talk with each other at a time during information processing. We have mimicked how neurons behave in the brain, said Pati. But perhaps the most stunning similarity of the team's computer with the human brain comes from the self-organizing ability of the molecular layer, and is the ability to physically heal itself, just like brain cells are able to regenerate to some extent. Because of these unique characteristics the team's processor can, despite its relative simplicity, solve problems for which algorithms are unknown. The researchers already demonstrated this capability by simulating two natural phenomena in the molecular layer — heat diffusion and the evolution of cancer cells. As their complexity grows, molecular computers may soon be able to solve the same problems that our brains face every day. The team's work is detailed in the paper Massively Parallel Computing on an Organic Molecule Layer, published in the online version of the journal Nature Physics. The research is supported by the National Science Foundation. Via Michigan Tech.
Re: [scifinoir2] Dororo
ahar...@earthlink.net I just adored this film. Saw it at the NYAFF a couple of years ago. Cheers! Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Dororo http://www.nipponcinema.com/trailers/dororo/ I just saw the movie Dororo based on the manga comics of the same name. The movie is an epic, odd and moving mishmash of Frankenstein, Pinocchio, Edward Scissorhands, the Karate Kid, and the story of Moses, if all those stories had taken place in feudal Japan during the age of Samurais. At the heart of Dororo is an incredibly silly and wondrously irresistible premise: the warlord Kagemitsu Daigo has made a pact with demons - in exchange for giving him the wherewithal to rule the world, he will allow the demons to take 48 body parts from his unborn son (the demons need the human body parts so they can deceive men and wreck mayhem). Daigo knows his deal has been sealed when his son is born without arms, legs, mouth, nose, eyes, ears, liver, heart and forty other undisclosed body parts. Daigo wants to kill his newborn son who, sans heart and other vital organs, still lives and breathes (or a facimile thereof since he doesn't have a mouth or lungs). Daigo's wife intervenes, places the baby in a woven basket and sets it adrift on the river. The baby is found by Jukai, an alchemist-healer who proceeds to turn our hero into a real boy via miraculous prosthetic limbs and organs. The death, dumb, blind kid (who will wield a mean set of demon-slaying swords/hands) is also given a clockwork heart that allows him to see and hear (How does he see? With his heart!). When Jukai dies, Hyakkimaru sets out in the world to kill demons and retrieve his body parts. Every time he discovers and dispatches a demon his prosthetic parts are replaced by his real parts. Hyakkimaru is joined on his quest by the feral girl-thief, Dororo, who is masquerading as a boy. Dororo's father is killed by Daigo's dark army and she has vowed to stay a boy until she has avenged her dead parents. Satoshi Tsumabuki as Hyakkimaru and Ko Shibasaki as Dororo, an alleged couple in real life, are fetching and compelling as the stars of this movie. Filmed in New Zealand by director Akihiko Shiota (with the beautifully acrobatic sword fights choreographed by Hong Kong master Siu-Tung Ching), Dororo rises above its hokey and unconvincing demons, a mishmash of bad special effects and worse CGI, to wring actual emotion out its outlandish premise. Improbably, it make you care and long for parts two and three, the promised sequels. ~rave! Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.801 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2810 - Release Date: 04/14/10 02:31:00
[scifinoir2] World Science: Newfound species dubbed 'T. rex' of leeches
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 11:46 PM Subject: World Science: Newfound species dubbed 'T. rex' of leeches * You may still have to avoid T. rex: A leech that turned up in a girl's nose has been dubbed the T. rex of its kind by scientists. They say its ancestors might have tormented the old T. rex in a like fashion. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100414_rex * New evidence cited that rocky, watery planets are common: Vaporized remnants of rocky, and possibly watery, bodies hang around many dead stars, astronomers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100413_planets * Possible new human ancestor revealed: Two partial skeletons unearthed in South Africa are from a previously unknown species, according to scientists. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100408_australo * Life on Titan? Stand far back and hold your nose! If life has evolved on Saturn's frigid moon, Titan, it would be strange, smelly -- and potentially explosive, new research suggests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100412_titan * Artificial leaves could help power machines of future: Researchers are presenting a design strategy that they say could harness Mother Nature's ability to produce energy from sunlight and water. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100326_leaf * Another species of extinct humans ID'd? A previously unknown lineage of humans has been identified based on genes extracted from a bit of bone, scientists say, though it is not believed to be a direct ancestor of modern people. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100325_hominin ADDITIONAL NEWS * Family tree research can open Pandora's Box: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100409_familytree * Brain cells shout in unison to get message through: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100401_neurons * Eye-operated video game developed for the disabled: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100326_planning * Power prompts less accurate time predictions, research finds: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100326_planning World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.801 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2810 - Release Date: 04/14/10 02:31:00
[scifinoir2] MLK: A Call to Conscience
ahar...@earthlink.net Subject: [PDA Accountability Justice] MLK: A Call to Conscience I just saw Tavis Smiley's special tonight on MLK: A Call to Conscience. It was a great program, and I hope you'll watch it, too! It is especially relevant today, with wars going on in Iraq and Afghanistan, at the same time the gap between rich and poor is growing. Those wars have gone on longer than WW II, and the money and lives we're spending in those wars is being diverted from our real needs here at home, with high unemployment (unless you want to fight in a war half way around the world), and growing poverty among people who are losing their jobs, their homes, and their health. Episode 2 - MLK: A Call to Conscience . Tavis Smiley Reports . Tavis Smiley | PBS www.pbs.org The second episode of Tavis Smiley Reports examines Martin Luther King, Jr.'s stand against the Vietnam War and the influence of his legacy today. Tavis speaks with scholars and friends of King, including Cornel West, Vincent Harding and Susannah Heschel. The scholars and friends are well chosen. I've long felt that MLK Jr. spoke with a prophetic voice, and his Beyond Vietnam speech is as relevant today as when he gave it more than 40 years ago. Again, highly recommended. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups PDA Accountability and Justice group. To post to this group, send email to pda-accountabil...@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to: pda-accountability+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/pda-accountability?hl=en No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.791 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2781 - Release Date: 03/31/10 02:32:00
[scifinoir2] Today is Pi Day
ahar...@earthlink.net OH, I JUST LOVE THIS! CHEERS! AMY Subject: [scifinoir2] Today is Pi Day That's a new one on me. Check out the Google symbol for today: http://www.inquisitr.com/66491/pi-day-2010/ The internet has a habit of inspiring new, geeky holidays, like Square Root Day, National High Five Day, Talk Like a Pirate Day and a favorite among mathletes everywhere, Pi Day. Pi Day falls on March 14th because of the first digits of Pi- 3.14. Another geeky boon is that the holiday also happens to be the birthday of one of science’s biggest rockstars, Albert Einstein. Many cities and institutions of geekery, like the Maryland Science Center, hold celebrations to party down on the mathiest day of the year. The OC Register points out that not only is the Discovery Science Center hosting a shindig, but some local restaurants are dishing out free pie in honor of Pi Day. San Francisco’s Exploratorium has been Pi partying for over two decades. The truly geeky, of course, are waiting for Pi Day 2015 for some nerdy reason explained in detail on their Facebook page. If you live in a town full of stupids, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little bit of fun with Pi Day. The Joy of Pi has a wealth of Pi-related links for you to browse. You can also visit the official Pi Day website for ideas.
[scifinoir2] Fw: Obama facing uprising over new, NO space exploration NASA strategy!
ahar...@earthlink.net Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2010 9:20 PM Subject: Obama facing uprising over new, NO space exploration NASA strategy! http://asia.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20100311/tbs-obama-space-7318940.html?printer=1 WHAT SPACE RACE?! PREZ OBAMA FACING NEW UPRISING OVER HIS NEW NASA STRATEGY! / BY CANCELLING AMERICA's RETURN TO SPACE and TO THE MOON, HAS PREZ OBAMA CEDED THE LEADERSHIP IN SPACE TO RUSSIA and RED CHINA?! - By Steve Holland, Reuters, Thursday, March 11, 2010 SPACE EXPLORATION FLASH BANG: - Lawmakers, space veterans rankled - Job losses feared in Florida, Alabama, Texas - Obama expected to defend shift at space conference WASHINGTON, March 11 - U.S. President Barack Obama is trying to tamp down an uprising in politically vital Florida against a new strategy for NASA that has rankled space veterans and lawmakers and sparked fears of job losses. Obama's decision to kill NASA's Constellation program to launch astronauts into orbit and return Americans to the moon has prompted soul-searching on whether the United States is prepared to cede a pre-eminent space role to Russia and China. As with all great human achievements, our commitment to space must be renewed and encouraged or we will surely be surpassed by other nations who are presently challenging our leadership in space, Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. Congress from Florida wrote to Obama last week. Obama's move for a greater private sector role in space launches -- as he seeks to keep ballooning federal deficits in check -- has generated fears of job losses among thousands of NASA employees who provide an important economic base in Florida, a state usually crucial in presidential elections. Employees at major space complexes in Alabama and Texas are also worried. It is making for a potentially explosive environment when Obama travels to the Cape Canaveral area on April 15 to host a space conference with top officials and leaders in the field. What reception will they get? Not good, said Keith Cowing, editor of nasawatch.com, a Web site that closely monitors the U.S. space agency. It's a gutsy move. It's Daniel in the Lion's Den. Obama, in his Feb. 1 budget proposal, planned to increase NASA's overall funding to $19 billion in 2011 with an emphasis on science and less spent on space exploration. He would CANCEL the Constellation program's Orion spacecraft and Ares rockets, after $9 billion and five years of tests. Constellation is aimed at returning astronauts to the moon in the 2020s to clear the way for a Mars mission. Instead, Obama would spend $6 billion a year for five years to support commercial spacecraft development and pursue new technologies to explore the solar system in what the White House called a more effective and affordable way. The LARGER ISSUE Various members of the far-flung U.S. space community have been troubled by the change, such as former NASA administrator Michael Griffin, who struggled to get more funding for Constellation from the previous administration of President George W. Bush and believes Obama should stick with it. There's a larger issue here, Griffin said. Does the United States want to have a real space program? Do we actually think we can have a robust, exciting, world-leading space program by hiring private enterprise to furnish it? But John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, said he believed it was time for the private sector to get more involved in space. There's no reason to think that the technical talent in the private sector, combined with a significant degree of NASA engagement, cannot come up with a good solution, he said. The debate to some extent has riven the space community. Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon, supports the change in direction while Harrison Schmitt, one of the last on the lunar surface, opposes it. NASA already has contracts with Space Exploration Technologies and Orbital Sciences Corp ORB.N to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. SpaceX and other firms are developing spaceships that can carry passengers to orbit and back. The shuttle system still has four (4) more flights to get crews and hardware to the International Space Station before the craft are retired. After that, NASA will be without a heavy-lift capability for a period of time. This means Americans would have to pay to ride on Russian rockets to get into orbit, a stark turn of events after the pivotal battle the United States and the Soviet Union fought to outdo each other in the space race. To maintain a lift capability, Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson wants the administration to add one shuttle flight and develop the Ares rockets that are part of the Constellation program. Ultimately, Nelson believes Obama needs to give the United States a goal for its space program and hopes it will be a mission to Mars. (Additional reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
Re: [scifinoir2] The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms available this week!
ahar...@earthlink.net Can't wait to get my copy! Cheers! Amy I just adore this type of fantasy! Subject: [scifinoir2] The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms available this week! Apologies for the crosspost, folks; just trying to be efficient in my shameless self-promotion. =) I can has book! My first novel, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, first of the Inheritance Trilogy, is officially available as of February 25th. It's actually available already in many bookstores and from Amazon, if you don't want to wait: http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Thousand-Kingdoms-N-Jemisin/dp/0316043915 A saga of gods and mortals, power and love, death and revenge, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS follows Yeine, a young woman who is an estranged member of the most powerful family in the world. At her mother's death, she's dragged back into the family politics, and must ally with the source of their power -- a quartet of enslaved gods -- to survive. Despite the shamelessness of this message, I'm actually not great at talking myself up, so I'll just refer you to my website (http://nkjemisin.com), where you can find: -A synopsis -Sample chapters -Some of the great reviews the book has been getting, including a starred review from Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal, and a Top Pick from Romantic times -Contests, interviews, and more! Please take a look-see, and spread the word! Nora (N. K. Jemisin) -- The gods, enslaved. A family with absolute power, absolutely corrupt. A young woman whose rage can save the world. THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, out now from Orbit Books! http://nkjemisin.com Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2703 - Release Date: 02/22/10 02:34:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Movie: Primer
ahar...@earthlink.net I thought it was excellent. Cheers! Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Movie: Primer Primer is a low budget indie film about two engineers that create a time travel device in their garage. Everything is great until they discover something wrong that happens in their future not of their own doing. This award winning film takes a methodical approach to time travel and how it could possibly work from an engineer's point of view. Has anyone seen this little film? -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2698 - Release Date: 02/19/10 14:34:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians
ahar...@earthlink.net All this is very fascinating. Amy Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Not all of the Africans in Russia were there because of slavery. Pushkin's grand father was Ethiopian royalty and was a guest of the court. There are others as well during that time frame. There were slaves there but not as many that were brought to Europe, Brazil, and America. The former USSR is a mixture of a lot of different peoples. There are some people that resemble Arab, Asian Indian, Inuit, others Chinese, and other still a mixture of Caucasian and Asian. On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Martin Baxter truthseeker...@hotmail.com wrote: Keith, in the case of Black Russians, they became Russian in much the same way we became American. If memory serves, Russian raiders, foraying out as far as north Africa, brought back Blacks and Arabs as slaves. Eventually, after being freed, they settled in enclaves, rather than risk the arduous trip back to their native lands. If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:19:57 + Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians Dude, that Black Obama is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of that is lost on a Russian? I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white Russians against those students of color. I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have those pressures at least. - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf hellomahog...@gmail.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians society Russia’s Black Community Kevin O’Flynn, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in Russia for several generations.” Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile Environment Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community. For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome. Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television. Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for her. “He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That is what they dreamed about.” Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter despite having a
Re: [scifinoir2] OT: More Upsetting than Stack's Actions are those who Understand His Feelings
ahar...@earthlink.net Couldn't agree more. Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] OT: More Upsetting than Stack's Actions are those who Understand His Feelings Most frightening of all? I was watching CNN today ,and Rick Sanchez said they were getting a *lot* of e-mails, Tweets, and Facebook messages from people who said they understood this guy's feelings. They were quick to say they didn't agree with his *actions*, but did understand how he felt so upset and helpless. That's the kind of bullsh** talk that explains why Congress is paralyzed, Tea Partyers abound, and we have a thinly veiled racist attack against all things Obama. I find it amazing how so many mainstream Americans are so quick to sympathize with those who rail against big government, the IRS, gun control, etc. I remember when the government would go after nutty racist/child-abusing/gun packing survivalist/white supremacy groups, many Americans railed against the government. Terms like jack-booted thugs were used to describe federal agents going after the Branch Davidians, where men were force marrying eleven-year-old girls, yet the government was seen as evil. Yet when that same government fights the war on terror, or persecutes groups like the Move Organization, or tortures foreign prisoners, suddenly that government is just aces. It still amazes me how many mainstream Americans are so quick to understand hatred of the government, to sympathize with those who make all kinds of threats against politicians, and to be proud of all but toting guns to rallies and yelling about the blood of patriots. And they get away with it. Todd Palin hangs out with separatist Alaskan nutjobs, and his wife's a celebrity. Michelle Obama says she's proud of America like never before, and she's a commie/pinko traitor. If black people were half as vocal in expressing much more justified hatred and distrust of the government, if we were so quick to speak about overthrowing the government and sympathize with anti-government nuts, they'd be all over us. Just ask the Panthers, the Move Organization, and Mumia Abu Jamal... * www.cnn.com (CNN) -- The remains of two people have been found in an Austin, Texas, building where a man crashed a small plane, authorities said. The identities of the two dead people have not been confirmed, the Austin Fire Department said in a statement. Two other people who were injured in the incident were taken to a hospital, and 11 others were treated for minor injuries, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said. Authorities said Andrew Joseph Stack III, 53, an Austin resident with an apparent grudge against the Internal Revenue Service, set his house on fire Thursday and then crashed a Piper Cherokee PA-28 into the building, which houses an IRS office with nearly 200 employees, federal officials said. This appears to be an intentional act by a sole individual, Acevedo said at a news conference. A fire created by the crash had been put out, save for some small areas, officials said. Fire crews were expected to continue to work through the night. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2695 - Release Date: 02/18/10 02:34:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Cave in Mexico has World's Largest Crystals
ahar...@earthlink.net Journey to the Center of the Earth, anyone? Love it! WOW! Amy Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Cave in Mexico has World's Largest Crystals That's Superman's fortress of solitude. :) On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 8:02 PM, Keith Johnson keithbjohn...@comcast.net wrote: This is freakin' awesome! Who says you need to go to outer space to find alien environments? This reminds me of innumerable scifi films I've seen over the years with similar settings... This is definitely worth taking a look at. Click on the pics for a larger view. * http://www.stormchaser.ca/Caves/Naica/Naica.html The Crystal Cave of Giants was accidentally discovered in 2000 by miners working in the silver and lead mine at Naica, Mexico. It lies almost 300 meters (900 feet) below the surface of the Earth and it contains the largest crystals known in the world, by far. The largest crystals are over 11 meters long (36 feet) and weigh 55 tons. The crystals themselves are made of selenite which is crystallized gypsum, the same material used in drywall construction. Except these crystals formed over a span of about half a million years in a hot water solution, saturated with minerals. The the temperature inside the cave remained very consistently hot for the entire time the crystals were growing. It is still incredibly hot in the cave due its proximity to a magma chamber, deep underground. The air temperature is 50C with a relative humidity of over 90%, making the air feel like an unbearable 105C (228F) Entering the cave without special protective suits can be fatal in 15 minutes. I will be entering the cave wearing a special cooling suit with chilling packs inside and a specialized backpack respirator which will allow me to breath chilled air. Even with all this equipment, I will still only be able to stay in the cave for no more than 45 minutes at a time. In extreme heat, the body begins to lose higher brain functions which made the expedition much more difficult with the risk of falling into deep pits, or being impaled on a sharp crystal. All the camera gear needs to be slowly brought up to temperature beforehand by pre-heating it and most cameras with moving parts and tape mechanisms simply will not work at all. It is as dangerous as it is beautiful. When the call comes over the radio to get out... It is time to go. Climbing up onto one of the larger crystals. When we first arrived at the Naica mine, Manuel and his crew took us inside without wearing the special cooling suits. This was in order to get us used to what REAL heat is like. There is a steel door protecting the cave and as soon as you pass through it, the temperature hits you like a truck, but as soon as you get your first glimpse of the incredible crystals, you want to keep going deeper. We were inside for only 14 minutes, which was pushing the danger limits without cooling suits. When we exited, the staging area was a cool 41 Celsius. My heart was pounding and I was completely soaked in sweat, my shirts, pants, socks boots... Everything. All we could do was sit, drink and rest. The next day, the real exploration began. We had left our camera gear inside the cave the night before, sealed up in air tight bags so that it could slowly warm up to the ambient temperature of the cave. Without doing this, all the gear would fog up, form a layer of condensation and become totally useless. -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2691 - Release Date: 02/16/10 02:35:00
[scifinoir2] Minerals and life
ahar...@earthlink.net Fascinating stuff! Subject: Minerals and life Hi: The March 2010 Scientific American includes the article: Evolution of Minerals; March 2010; by Robert M. Hazen; 8 Page(s) The article indicates that in the early stages of Earth's history there were only about 250 mineral compounds. This is what they estimate most planet / moon-type objects have if they don't have processes that will help produce additional compounds. They estimate that even assuming Mars once had seas that dried up, it is unlikely to have more than 500 compounds. Venus' more active geological forces, atmosphere, etc. probably have produced more. Similarly, Earth's geological, atmospheric and oceanic forces produced additional compounds even before life had much impact. However, after plants had increased the oxygen content of the air, another 1000+ compounds were produced. They estimate that later life processes lead to about 2000 more compounds - so that Earth now has about 4400. The article suggests that scientists might use the presence of large numbers of mineral compounds on other worlds as an indicator of past or present life there. The information in the article suggests that other worlds without past or present life will have limited numbers of mineral compounds. It occurred to me this may have implications for human colonization of other worlds. Part of the reason geological and life processes are needed to create additional compounds is that without those forces some chemical elements are scattered too widely to form useful concentrations. Other worlds with few compounds and limited concentrations of certain elements for mining could prevent adequate availability of natural resources needed for a technological society. Of course, humans could avoid life-less worlds and try to colonize worlds with life. However, planets with a robust enough ecology to produce a native intelligent species aren't appropriate for human colonization. Planets with life (but no intelligent life) may be the best option, although the native life more likely than not won't be healthy and nutritious for Earth life. We can import Earth plants and animals, but the native life will presumably be better adapted to the specifics of that planet. Colonization might be more involved than previously thought. Other articles in the March Scientific American include: Heavy Brows, High Art; March 2010; by Charles Q. Choi; 2 Page(s) Were Neandertals our mental equals? Dark Side of Black Holes; March 2010; by Charles Q. Choi; 3 Page(s) Dark matter could explain the early universe's giant black holes The Moon That Would Be A Planet; March 2010; by Ralph Lorenz and Christophe Sotin; 8 Page(s) Titan, Saturn's largest natural satellite, scarcely deserves to be a called a mere moon. It has an atmosphere thicker than Earth's and a surface that is almost as varied The Brain's Dark Energy; March 2010; by Marcus E. Raichle; 6 Page(s) Brain regions active when our minds wander may hold a key to understanding neurological disorders and even consciousness itself Fusion's False Dawn; March 2010; by Ben Knight; 8 Page(s) Scientists have long dreamed of harnessing nuclear fusion—the power plant of the stars—for a safe, clean and virtually unlimited energy supply. Even as a historic milestone nears, skeptics question whether a working reactor will ever be possible Climate Change: A Controlled Experiment; March 2010; by Stan D. Wullschleger and Maya Strahl; 6 Page(s) Scientists have carefully manipulated grasslands and forests to see how precipitation, carbon dioxide and temperature changes affect the biosphere, allowing them to forecast the future Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ * Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional * To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/join (Yahoo! ID required) * To change settings via email: scifinoir2-dig...@yahoogroups.com scifinoir2-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: scifinoir2-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [scifinoir2] Samuel Delany's 70-Year Romance Novel Coming This Fall
ahar...@earthlink.net This is very good news indeed! Cheers! Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Samuel Delany's 70-Year Romance Novel Coming This Fall - http://io9.com/5467952/samuel-delanys-70+year-romance-novel-coming-this-fall You think your love affair is long lasting? Your romance is but an eyeblink compared to that of the characters in Samuel R. Delany's new novel - which is finally coming out this fall. When we interviewed Delany a while back, he was excited about his new novel, Through The Valley Of The Nest Of Spiders, but didn't yet have a publisher or release date. He described it to us: In a way, it's a very simple story, just about two working-class gay men, who meet when they're seventeen and nineteen, living on the coast of Georgia. They meet in 2007, and they stay together for the next 80 years, until one of them dies. Now you tell me whether that's science fiction or not. It definitely goes into the future, but on the other hand, they're absolutely out of the center of life, and things progress where they live, very very slowly. And they hear about things that are going on outside. They live on coastal part of Georgia in a little town that does go through cycles of being a semi-popular tourist spot in the summers, and then some years, nobody bothers to come at all. Eventually they move to a little island off the coast, and a little lesbian art colony starts up on the island. And they wonder if they're not being crowded out of their new home. But they're very fond of some of the people who live there, and some of the people who live there are very fond of them. Delany just appeared on the Cover To Cover podcast, and revealed that Nest Of Spiders is coming out this fall, from Alyson Books. Writes Matthew Cheney: It was the first time I'd publicly heard the release date of Chip's new novel, Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders, which is scheduled to be releaed in November from Alyson Books, where the great Don Weise, who was the editor for Dark Reflections, is now the publisher. A version of part of the new novel appeared in Black Clock 7 a few years ago, and Chip read some of it aloud at Readercon this past summer. It tells the story of the relationship of two men, starting in 2007 and continuing for about seventy years into the future. So now I guess it's 70 years, rather than 80 years. In either case, I'm still dying to read this novel. Send an email to Charlie Jane Anders, the author of this post, at charliej...@io9.com. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2678 - Release Date: 02/09/10 14:35:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Riddle of the sexless rotifer 'solved'
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 7:58 PM Subject: World Science: Riddle of the sexless rotifer 'solved' * Riddle of the sexless rotifer solved, biologists say: An microscopic freshwater animal has gotten by without sex for millions of years. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100128_rotifer * Snail's armor could offer human protection: The robust, efficient shell of a deep-sea snail could provide inspiration for advances in human body armor design, researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100119_armor * Report: cancer studies used wrong cells A study raises questions about over 100 published studies, two clinical trials and possibly much additional research. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100114_wrongcells * Some dino feather colors identified: The color of some feathers on dinosaurs and early birds is now known for the first time, some scientists report. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100127_feather * Study: recognition of facial expressions not universal Caucasians and Asians don't examine faces in the same way, according to new research. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100126_faces * Almost never-seen bird resurfaces in Afghanistan: A species with just a handful of documented human sightings in its past has turned up in a war-torn land, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100125_orinus * Survival of the cutest said to back up Darwin: Domestic dogs have followed a unique evolutionary path, according to a new study. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100122_cutest * Post-traumatic stress diagnosed using magnetism: Post-traumatic stress disorder, which afflicts war veterans and others, was previously detectable only through psychological screening. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100121_ptsd * Scientists: docs don't feel your pain much -- and that may be best: If you've ever felt like you've had a doctor who just didn't care, researchers now have an explanation. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/100120_physicians * Stress may cause cancer, study suggests: The research also points to new ways to attack the deadly disease, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100113_stress-cancer World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2651 - Release Date: 01/28/10 02:36:00
Re: [scifinoir2] RE: George Washington became a abolitionist (in closet)
ahar...@earthlink.net Subject: [scifinoir2] RE: George Washington became a abolitionist (in closet) I second these emotions! Peace, Amy Thanks for doing the research. Good stuff Tracey de Morsella, Managing Producer The Green Economy Post http://greeneconomypost.com tra...@greeneconomypost.com Phone: 425-502-7716 From: Albert Fields [mailto:cbilmarket...@yahoo.com] Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 8:16 PM To: tdemorse...@multiculturaladvantage.com; kalpub...@aol.com; scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; dar...@darylelockhart.com; afrikanm...@hotmail.com; bettil...@msn.com; cinque3...@verizon.net; dorothyh...@sbcglobal.net; duva...@hotmail.com; fis...@bellsouth.net; gwashin...@aol.com; jeffreypbal...@gmail.com; killa...@gmail.com; keithbjohn...@comcast.net; imke...@gmail.com; seriousnup...@yahoo.com; logic1...@aol.com; truthseeker...@icqmail.com; mmb1...@gmail.com; gord...@indiana.edu; michael.v.w.gor...@gmail.com; ravena...@yahoo.com; rs...@yahoo.com; everything...@nyc.rr.com; valeryjea...@yahoo.com; wendellsmit...@gmail.com; sonofafieldne...@sbcglobal.net; williamsf...@speakeasy.net; beta...@yahoo.com Subject: Re: George Washington became a abolitionist (in closet) All you did was get me searching. Here is something else on washington and slavery. Washington and slavery Historians' perceptions of Washington's stand on slavery tend to be mixed.[7] Although Washington never made any public statement about slavery or the treatment of slaves, it is clear that as he progressed in life, he became increasingly uneasy with the peculiar institution, and historian Roger Bruns wrote: As he grew older, he became increasingly aware that it was immoral and unjust. According to historians such as Clayborne Carson and Gary Nash, Washington's professed hatred of slavery was offset by his denial of freedom to even those slaves, like William Billy Lee, who fought with Washington for eight years. Lee lived at Mount Vernon as a slave, although his wife was a free woman from Philadelphia, named Margaret Thomas. Although some historians claim that it is not known whether she lived with him on the plantation,[8] most sources indicate that she did not.[9] Billy Lee was the only slave freed outright in Washington's will. After the revolution, Washington told an English visitor, I clearly foresee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our [Federal] union by consolidating it on a common bond of principle. The buying and selling of slaves, as if they were cattle in the market, especially outraged him. He wrote to his friend John Francis Mercer in 1786, I never mean … to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted, by which slavery in this country may be abolished by slow, sure, and imperceptible degrees. [10] Ten years later he wrote to Robert Morris: There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see some plan adopted for the abolition [of slavery]/ref.[11] As president, Washington was mindful of the risk of splitting apart the young republic over the question of slavery. He did not advocate the abolition of slavery while in office, but he signed legislation enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory, writing to his good friend and Revolutionary War comrade, Marquis de la Fayette that he considered it a wise measure. Lafayette urged him to free his slaves as an example to others. Washington was held in such high regard after the revolution that there was reason to hope that if he freed his slaves, others would follow his example. Lafayette purchased an estate in French Guiana and settled his own slaves there, and he offered a place for Washington's slaves, writing, I would never have drawn my sword in the cause of America if I could have conceived thereby that I was founding a land of slavery. Washington did not free his slaves in his lifetime but included a provision in his will to free the slaves upon the death of his wife. Martha Washington did not wait on this, and instead freed the Washington slaves on January 1, 1801. Billy Lee was the only slave freed outright upon George Washington's death. One of Washington's slaves, Oney Judge Staines, escaped the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia in 1796 and lived the rest of her life free in New Hampshire.[12] http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/George_Washington El mundo es tuyo -- From: Tracey de Morsella tdemorse...@multiculturaladvantage.com To: Albert Fields cbilmarket...@yahoo.com; kalpub...@aol.com; scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; dar...@darylelockhart.com; afrikanm...@hotmail.com; bettil...@msn.com; cinque3...@verizon.net; dorothyh...@sbcglobal.net; duva...@hotmail.com; fis...@bellsouth.net;
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Mysterious dust in a distant solar system
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 8:20 PM Subject: World Science: Mysterious dust in a distant solar system * For healthy mental aging, brain games may fill in for schooling: People with less education can avoid the increased risk of memory loss, a study suggests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100112_brain * Distant solar system forming from mysterious dust, scientists say: A far-off solar system seems to be forming from a strange dust whose makeup is unlike that of our and other solar systems. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100111_dust * Baby temperament found to predict adult brain structure: Four-month-old infants' temperament predicts some aspects of their brain structure at age 18, researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100109_brain * Punisher of the seas is a little finned janitor: For small fish known as cleaner wrasse, stepping into the line of fire reaps huge rewards, according to a new study. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100107_punisher * Golden ratio hints at hidden atomic symmetry: A hitherto undiscovered order can be found in solid matter at very small scales, physicists are reporting. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100107_goldenratio * Hubble reveals uncharted cosmic zone: The space telescope has uncovered a primordial population of small, ultra-blue galaxies, according to astronomers. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100105_galaxies * Lifeless molecules found to evolve, adapt: Prions -- infectious molecules that cause fatal brain diseases -- can evolve in a Darwinian fashion, biologists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100101_prions * Mosquito lovers sing in harmony: The insects responsible for the most malaria deaths find mates by using their wingbeats to produce tones that agree, a study reports. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091231_mosquito * Power promotes hypocrisy: study: Behind 2009's scandal-ridden headlines lies a deeper psychological pattern, researchers claim. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091229_hypocrisy World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.136/2616 - Release Date: 01/12/10 02:35:00
[scifinoir2] The Creator of Gumby is dead, dammit
ahar...@earthlink.net The Creator of Gumby is dead, dammit http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/08/art-clokey-creator-o.html We have lost a rare creative talent! *sigh* Amy
Re: [scifinoir2] FW: Uganda's Child Sacrifice
ahar...@earthlink.net The tragedy is compounded because this is driven by forces of globalization and the corruption of the colonial legacy. ARRGH! Amy From the subject line alone, I didn't think I'd be strong enough to watch it. Reading the text accompanying, I KNOW that I'm not. Right now, I'm mad because we're f*cking around in Afghanistan, looking for a dead man and his henchmen (who, BTB, aren't even there). If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- To: cdemorse...@yahoo.com; scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 12:24:49 -0800 Subject: [scifinoir2] FW: Uganda's Child Sacrifice From: kalpub...@aol.com [mailto:kalpub...@aol.com] Please watch video http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8441813.stm BBC NEWS Witch-doctors reveal extent of child sacrifice in Uganda 7 January 10 09:45 GMT By Tim Whewell BBC News, Uganda A BBC investigation into human sacrifice in Uganda has heard first-hand accounts which suggest ritual killings of children may be more common than authorities have acknowledged. One witch-doctor led us to his secret shrine and said he had clients who regularly captured children and brought their blood and body parts to be consumed by spirits. Meanwhile, a former witch-doctor who now campaigns to end child sacrifice confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his own son. The Ugandan government told us that human sacrifice is on the increase, and according to the head of the country's Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce the crime is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly. In the course of our investigation we witnessed the ritual torching of the shrine of a particularly active witch-doctor in northern Uganda by anti-sacrifice campaigners. The witch-doctor allowed ceremonial items including conch shells and animal skins to be burned in his sacred grove after agreeing to give up sacrifice. He told us that clients had come to him in search of wealth. They capture other people's children. They bring the heart and the blood directly here to take to the spirits… They bring them in small tins and they place these objects under the tree from which the voices of the spirits are coming, he said. Asked how often clients brought blood and body parts, the witch-doctor said they came on average three times a week - with all that the spirits demand from them. We saw a beaker of blood and what appeared to be a large, raw liver in the shrine before it was destroyed, although it was not possible to determine whether they were human remains. Extortion The witch-doctor denied any direct involvement in murder or incitement to murder, saying his spirits spoke directly to his clients. He told us he was paid 500,000 Ugandan shillings (£160 or $260) for a consultation, but that most of that money was handed over to his boss in a nationwide network of witch-doctors. Head of the Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Task Force, assistant commissioner Moses Binoga of the Ugandan police, said he knew of the boss referred to - involved in one of five or six witch-doctor protection rackets operating in the country. The senior ones extort money from lower people because they deal in illegal things, he told us. Mr Binoga said police had opened 26 murder cases in 2009, in which the victim appeared to have been ritually sacrificed, compared with just three cases in 2007. We also have about 120 children and adults reported missing whose fate we have not traced. We cannot rule out that they may be victims of human sacrifice, he said. But child protection campaigners believe the real number is much higher, as some disappearances are not reported to police. Activism Former witch-doctor turned anti-sacrifice campaigner Polino Angela says he has persuaded 2,400 other witch-doctors to give up the trade since he himself repented in 1990. Mr Angela told us he had first been initiated as a witch-doctor at a ceremony in neighbouring Kenya, where a boy of about 13 was sacrificed. The child was cut with a knife on the neck and the entire length from the neck down was ripped open, and then the open part was put on me, he said. When he returned to Uganda he says he was told by those who had initiated him to kill his own son, aged 10. I deceived my wife and made sure that everyone else had gone away and I was with my child alone. Once he was placed down on the ground, I used a big knife and brought it down like a guillotine. Asked if he was afraid he might
Re: [scifinoir2] A couple of overlooked movies
ahar...@earthlink.net 9 was terrific! Ink sounds good. Cheers! Amy 9 - I don't remember seeing 9 on anyone's list this year, so I thought I would give it some props. I just spent the evening watching this film and thought that it was an interesting rewrite of an old theme with beautiful artwork, and interesting characters. 9 was born into a post apocalyptic world where the machines had taken over and killed off most of mankind. Basically finishing the job that Skynet could not. 9 is a good multi-genre film mixing post apocalyptic scifi, with a family Disneyesque theme. More info here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/ Ink - This was a low budget indie film ($250,000) that was made outside of the Hollywood system. Ink is about what happens in the dreamworld. When we are asleep two opposing forces emerge to fight over what we will dream. The light gives us good dreams, and the incubus that gives us nightmares. The two sides go to war after a little girl is kidnapped in the dream world by Ink (a wannabe incubus). This movie is a mix of mystical, and the matrix (there are some good martial arts scenes). I could see this movie made into a series on BBC. It is available on DVD and bootleg. (The company said that they are comfortable with the downloading.) More info here; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1071804/ Hardwired - Hardwired stars Cuba Goodin Jr. as the lead role, Val Kilmer, and a few other faces that you may recognize in a near future film where the bank bailouts have failed and the entire world is owned by corporations such as Mc Donalds, and Microsoft. (Mc Donalds owns the Hoover Dam, and Pepsi owns the moon.) Cuba plays a man that finds himself with amnesia after a car crash. To save his life, his sister gives permission for Cuba to have an experimental operation that places a chip inside his brain. I wanted to like this film, but there was a lot of tacky elements to it. One is Val Kilmer's hair. The other is unexplained inconsistencies with Cuba's fighting skills. I guess with a little tweaking this could be a good superhero origin story. Overall it reminded me of a made for the Syfy channel movie with a higher budget. The story gave me the feeling that it should have been written in the 1980s. (Like parallel to Robocop.) The special effects looked a bit dated as well although this movie was made this year. Oh how the mighty have fallen... Check out 9 and Ink! -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2595 - Release Date: 12/31/09 03:52:00
[scifinoir2] NEW IMARO NOVEL: #4 IS OUT NOW!
ahar...@earthlink.net Dear Charles, YAY! JOY! I have already placed my order with Lulu. The cover is splendid - just gorgeous. Imaro seems quite evenly matched in that scene and the lightning bolts add a nice supernatural touch, suggests lots of fantastic thrills within. The Cimmerian website is already publicizing this exciting event and I am spreading the word with this message. Lots of happy fans will appreciate this New Year gift! Thanks and Cheers! Amy http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/imaro-the-naama-war/6196467 Hello, Amy ... Thanks for the kind comments about my Kush article. Meanwhile, this year is ending with a bang, and I don't mean New Year's Eve fireworks. The fourth Imaro novel, Imaro:The Naama War, is now available at lulu.com. To see what the cover art looks like without text, go to: http://mshindo9.deviantart.com/art/Imaro-cover-art-148520864 I'm sure you can imagine how I'm feeling now that this book is in print nearly 25 years after I first wrote it. Now, at last, you will get the answers to the questions the first three books engendered. Here's hoping those answers are worth the wait. Keeping on, Charles -- Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.722 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2594 - Release Date: 12/30/09 02:27:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Scientists create 'memories' in isolated brain slices
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. Subject: World Science: Scientists create 'memories' in isolated brain slices * Scientists create memories in isolated brain slices: Researchers say the effect occurred thanks to an obscure type of cell first described in 1893. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091227_memory * Power promotes hypocrisy, study finds Behind 2009's scandal-ridden headlines lies a deeper psychological pattern, researchers claim. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091229_hypocrisy * Collisions and vampirism may make stars look newly young: Two processes can make some stars look much younger than they really are, astronomers have found. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091226_stragglers * Females may harbor biological inner male: In female mice, switching off one gene seems to start turning the ovaries into testicles that produce male hormones, scientists report. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091222_foxl2 * First super-Earths found orbiting sun-like stars: Astronomers have reported finding as many as six planets, not many times heavier than Earth, orbiting two nearby Sun-like stars. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091215_planets * Personalities judged by appearance alone in study: They say never to judge a book by its cover. But some aspects of a stranger's personality may be discernible from a photo. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091211_appearance MORE NEWS * Moon like that in Avatar could be real: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091220_avatar * For some stone-agers, home was where the hearth was: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091217_homes * Violent conflicts fit into patterns, researchers find: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091216_conflict * Second Mozart Effect? Premature babies may grow faster: http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091214_mozart World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.722 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2592 - Release Date: 12/29/09 02:47:00
Re: [scifinoir2] A Real Master of the Game
ahar...@earthlink.net I'm from NYC and HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED! Subject: [scifinoir2] A Real Master of the Game http://blackplush.blogspot.com/2009/12/real-masters-of-game.html Percy Sutton passed away on Saturday. As is my wont to do, I have also immortalized him on my World Ebon blog: http://theworldebon.blogspot.com/2009/12/mosiday-oshana-23-10009.html Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.722 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2592 - Release Date: 12/29/09 02:47:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Happy Holidays scifinoir2
ahar...@earthlink.net Have a Happy to you and everybody too! Peace, Amy No matter your belief system. Hopefully you can get shoreleave to the pleasure planet of Risa, if not I hope you can spend quality with family and /or friends.Do more than put $$ into James Cameron or Disney's pockets. Pick up the communicater and reconnect with that sibling or cousin who gets amnesia when it comes to that $100 he borrowed back in 85. Its just not that deep. Happy Holidays -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.722 / Virus Database: 270.14.119/2585 - Release Date: 12/24/09 03:11:00
[scifinoir2] Obama as hollow as Tiger Woods?
ahar...@earthlink.net Well said. I never drank the koolaid and voted for Cynthia McKinney who spoke the truth. We ended up with President 'Obusha' who has turned out far worse than I imagined. Not feeling very merry right now, Amy Lets be honest, most people will say that you should not put faith in people. Or paint a perfect imagine of a person. If you do then when they do something wrong, one thing wrong you will become greatly disappointed. --Lavender If all truths were knowable, then all truths are in fact known. Subject: [scifinoir2] Obama as hollow as Tiger Woods? Frank Rich Goes There: Obama as hollow as Tiger Woods? by route66 Sat Dec 19, 2009 at 07:39:51 PM PST Frank Rich takes a look back at the decade in his Sunday NYT column, and what he sees ain't pretty at all. Though the American left and right don't agree on much, they are both now coalescing around the suspicion that Obama's brilliant presidential campaign was as hollow as Tiger's public image - a marketing scam designed to camouflage either his covert anti-American radicalism (as the right sees it) or spineless timidity (as the left sees it). The truth may well be neither, but after a decade of being spun silly, Americans can't be blamed for being cynical about any leader trying to sell anything. As we say goodbye to the year of Tiger Woods, it is the country, sad to say, that is left mired in a sand trap with no obvious way out. a.. route66's diary :: :: b.. Rich details the bamboozling of the American Public throughout the decade, from Enron to Bush, Citgroup to John Edwards, Barry Bonds to Balloon Boy. He reserves his most pointed criticism for Tiger Woods, in a scathing indictment that makes Woods the poster boy for all that is wrong in America People wanted to believe what they wanted to believe. Tiger's off-the-links elusiveness was no more questioned than Enron's impenetrable balance sheets, with their special-purpose entities named after Star Wars characters. Fortune magazine named Enron as America's most innovative company six years in a row. In the January issue of Golf Digest, still on the stands, some of the best and most hardheaded writers in America offer tips Obama can take from Tiger, who is typically characterized as so without human frailties that he never does anything that would make him look ridiculous. There is truth in Rich's rant, regarding Iraq, we wanted to suspend disbelief. Much of the country, regardless of party, didn't want to question its leaders, no matter how obviously they were hyping any misleading shred of intelligence that could fit their predetermined march to war. Rich takes issue with Time Magazine's choice of Ben Bernanke as Person of the Year and has instead named Tiger Woods As cons go, Woods's fraudulent image as an immaculate exemplar of superhuman steeliness is benign. His fall will damage his family, closest friends, Accenture and the golf industry much more than the rest of us. But the syndrome it epitomizes is not harmless. We keep being fooled by leaders in all sectors of American life, over and over. A decade that began with the reality television craze exemplified by American Idol and Survivor - both blissfully devoid of any reality whatsoever - spiraled into a wholesale flight from truth. If truth will set us free, the lack of truth rampant in this country, well described in this column, will surely shatter whatever future we have. The failed climate agreement and finger pointing, the sad, almost comical actions of the United States Senate in the current Health Care reform effort, the placing of Wall Street foxes in the henhouse of the United States Government Treasury, the hourly and daily politics of dancing around the truth speak volumes. There is no more common good nor common sense and we are all wasting time, wasting money and wasting lives. Kudos to Frank Rich. Many will disagree vehemently with his characterization and questions regarding our President. I hope our President will read the column and think long and hard about the State of our Union. 'tis not a pretty sight. update my take and headline re. Rich's column do focus on the current state of affairs that Barack Obama finds himself in; Rich concludes his column with the graf I quoted first. I don't think Frank Rich intended to directly compare the antics of Woods with the efforts of the President and the situation each finds themselves in currently. The obvious snowballing of America by many parties, before Tiger, is paramount in the article. Many comments below have automatically focused narrowly on the fact that both are black and accuse Rich of racist undertones. Read the article and reach your own conclusions. I'm going to bed.
Re: [scifinoir2] Who else is looking forward to Avatar?
ahar...@earthlink.net Me too! Amy - Original Message - From: Tracey de Morsella To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 10:10 AM Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Who else is looking forward to Avatar? I'm there From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of George Arterberry Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 4:41 AM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] Who else is looking forward to Avatar? Reviews I've read were generally positive -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.716 / Virus Database: 270.14.104/2560 - Release Date: 12/12/09 02:38:00
[scifinoir2] Enroute to the sixth extinction
ahar...@earthlink.net Thanks for this, passing it on. Enroute to the sixth extinction atimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-corwin30-2009nov30,0,7760875.story latimes.com Opinion The sixth extinction Somewhere on Earth, every 20 minutes, one animal species dies out. At this rate, we will lose 50% of all species by the end of the century. Time is running out to turn the tide. By Jeff Corwin November 30, 2009 There is a holocaust happening. Right now. And it's not confined to one nation or even one region. It is a global crisis. Species are going extinct en masse. Every 20 minutes we lose an animal species. If this rate continues, by century's end, 50% of all living species will be gone. It is a phenomenon known as the sixth extinction. The fifth extinction took place 65 million years ago when a meteor smashed into the Earth, killing off the dinosaurs and many other species and opening the door for the rise of mammals. Currently, the sixth extinction is on track to dwarf the fifth. What -- or more correctly -- who is to blame this time? As Pogo said, We have met the enemy, and he is us. The causes of this mass die-off are many: overpopulation, loss of habitat, global warming, species exploitation (the black market for rare animal parts is the third-largest illegal trade in the world, outranked only by weapons and drugs). The list goes on, but it all points to us. Over the last 15 years, in the course of producing television documentaries and writing about wildlife, I have traveled the globe, and I have witnessed the grim carnage firsthand. I've observed the same story playing out in different locales. In South Africa, off the coast of Cape Horn, lives one of the most feared predators of all -- the great white shark. Yet this awesome creature is powerless before the mindless killing spree that is decimating its species at the jaw-dropping rate of 100 million sharks a year. Many are captured so that their dorsal fins can be chopped off (for shark fin soup). Then, still alive, they are dropped back into the sea, where they die a slow and painful death. Further east, in Indonesia, I witnessed the mass destruction of rain forests to make way for palm oil plantations. Indonesia is now the world's leading producer of palm oil -- a product used in many packaged foods and cosmetic goods -- and the victims are the Sumatran elephant and orangutan. These beautiful creatures are on the brink of extinction as their habitats go up in smoke, further warming our planet in the process. One day while swimming off the coast of Indonesia, I came across a river of refuse and raw sewage stretching for miles. These streams and islands of refuse now populate all our oceans; in the middle of the Pacific, there is an island of garbage the size of Texas. This floating pollution serves to choke off and kill sea turtles -- driving them closer to extinction. At the same time, the coral reefs where sea turtles get their food supply are dying due to rising sea temperatures from global warming. To top it off, sea turtles are hunted and killed for their meat -- considered a delicacy in many Asian countries. It is an ugly but altogether effective one-two-three punch for this unique species. It's important to understand that this is not just a race to save a handful of charismatic species -- animals to which we attach human-inspired values or characteristics. Who wouldn't want to save the sea otter, polar bear, giant panda or gorilla? These striking mammals tug at our heartstrings and often our charitable purse strings. But our actions need to be just as swift and determined when it comes to the valley elderberry longhorn beetle or the distinctly uncuddly, pebbly-skinned Puerto Rican crested toad or the black-footed ferret, whose fate is inextricably intertwined with that of the prairie dog. The reality is that each species, no matter how big, small, friendly or vicious, plays an important and essential role in its ecosystem. And we're in a race to preserve as much of the animal kingdom as possible. Meanwhile, around the planet there are massive die-offs of amphibians, the canaries in our global coal mine. When frogs and other amphibians, which have existed for hundreds of millions of years, start to vanish, it is a sign that our natural world is in a state of peril. Bat and bee populations are also being decimated. Without bees, there will be no pollination, and without pollination, the predator that is decimating these other species -- humankind -- will also be headed toward its own extinction. Yes, there is a certain irony there. This was all brought home to me in an intimate way after a recent trip to Panama. My young daughter, Maya, asked if she could accompany me on my next trip there so that she could see one of her favorite animals -- the http://frogPanamanian golden frog -- up close and personal in the jungle. Sadly, I had to tell her no. This small,
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Do black holes zap galaxies into existence?
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 5:22 AM Subject: World Science: Do black holes zap galaxies into existence? * Do black holes zap galaxies into existence? Astronomers say they may have solved a long-debated chicken-and-egg problem. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091201_galaxy * From chimps, new clues to language origins: Chimps seem to use the left half of the brain to communicate with gestures -- just as humans do to talk, researchers have found. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091116_chimps * Particle smasher becomes world's most powerful: After a year of troubles, the Large Hadron Collider is back. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091130_lhc * Our oceans, extraterrestrial material?: A conventional view that the atmosphere and oceans came from vapors emitted during volcanism may be wrong, a study says. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091117_oceans.htm * America's food waste laying waste to environment: Food waste contributes to global warming, researchers warn. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091125_waste * How could they? Poop-eating apes prompt quest for answers: Nature can be beautiful. Elegant. Graceful. But not always. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091110_coprophagy * Video shows Saturn's northern lights: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091127_auroras * Scientists make plastic without using fossil fuels: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091124_plastic * Road rage? Gas fumes may heighten aggression: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091123_vapor * Blame game is contagious: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091120_blame * Dung evidence exonerates humans in mammoth mystery: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091119_mammoth * Lunar water confirmed: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091113_moon * Stars' chemistry could give away planetary presence: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/09_lithium * Ants could inspire military strategies: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/09_ant-strategies * Language learning may start in womb: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091105_babies World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.709 / Virus Database: 270.14.89/2539 - Release Date: 12/01/09 14:32:00
[scifinoir2] Re: [holdstock-l] Sad news
ahar...@earthlink.net This is horribly tragic news. What a profound loss! Condolences. HE WILL BE MISSED! Amy Subject: [holdstock-l] Sad news Dear all, At 4 o'clock this morning Rob Holdstock passed away. He had been in intensive care since the 18th of November when he collapsed due to an E. coli infection. I'm heartsick to have lost a dear friend. My sincere sympathies to his partner Sarah Biggs and both their families. Rob was one of the best fantasy writers of his generation, and was a man with a huge appetite for life. I'm deeply saddened that he has been taken from us so soon at only 61 years old. Maura The Robert Holdstock Web Site: http://robertholdstock.comYahoo! Groups Links
Re: [scifinoir2] Question: The importance of historical context?
ahar...@earthlink.net Absolutely! Amy (Big fan of the Planet of the Apes films) IFC is running a Planet of the Apes marathon this weekend. What I didn't know was that there were several short documentaries about the screenwriters of the movie, and how the movie was made. Two of the writers of the screenplay were blacklisted during the McCarthy hearings. That and the civil rights struggles during the 1960s deeply influenced the Planet of the Apes. For many years I often suspected that there was a large amount of subtext in the film series but I wasn't sure of it. After learning more about the writers and their struggles, my ideas were confirmed. My question to you all is, do you think that historical context plays an importance in the creation of a good story? -- -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.423 / Virus Database: 270.14.40/2471 - Release Date: 10/31/09 07:53:00
[scifinoir2] The Yes Men Punk the Chamber on Climate Change
ahar...@earthlink.net This got great coverage on www.democracynow.org! http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/yes-men-punk-chamber The Yes Men Punk the Chamber - By Kate Sheppard | Mon October 19, 2009 9:31 AM PST The Chamber of Commerce stunned DC on Monday by calling a last-minute press conference to announce a dramatic about-face in its climate policy-it would not only stop opposing the Kerry-Boxer climate bill but would work with them to make it better. But the whole thing turned out to be a hoax mounted by the Yes Men, a notorious band of anti-corporate pranksters. Reporters received a press release early Monday stating that the Chamber would be throwing its weight behind strong climate legislation at an event at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, DC. But when I and others showed up, we were met by a fellow dressed in a suit looking like a typical corporate PR man. This wasn't Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue. And I recognized him as Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum. (I've written about the group previously.) He soon was telling reporters, We at the Chamber have tried to keep climate science from interfering with business. But without a stable climate, there will be no business. The Yes Men posted text of the fake speech on a fake website that closely mirrors the actual Chamber site. There were a couple of tell-tale signs that there might be some funny business going on: The speech was to come from Tom Donahue, while the actual CEO of the Chamber is named Tom Donohue. And as TPM pointed out, the press release announcing the event was issued by one Erica Avidus, whose last name is Latin for greedy. As one might expect, the real Chamber was none too pleased. Eric Wohlschlegel, spokesman for the US Chamber, showed up and protested loudly during the event. This is a fraudulent press conference! he yelled. Later he could be heard asking a Press Club employee how they could host this kind of stunt. How could someone call and represent the Chamber in this way? he asked. We do a lot of events here. We're very supportive of the Press Club. The Press Club wasn't very happy either. An employee was overheard telling one of the organizers that they could have canceled it based on your illegal behavior. Surely the reporters who showed up were also miffed. I initially fell for the press release, but was thankfully tipped off to the scam before the event. But reporters for Reuters, Greenwire and other news organizations showed up to cover the event, and Reuters, basing its reporting on the press release, posted a piece proclaiming that the Chamber had made an about face and no longer opposes climate change legislation, which was republished on the Washington Post and New York Times sites. National Journal took the bait as well. Reuters ran a correction a little while later. Most reporters at the event, however, were utterly confused. Which one is the real Chamber? one asked. The Yes Men, and their allies at the Avaaz Action Factory who helped coordinate the event, were pleased with the latest in their series of climate-change-related stunts. Recent efforts include a fake issue of the New York Post proclaiming We're Screwed! that was distributed in New York during the United Nations Climate Summit; or their Survivaball system for withstanding climate change (a.k.a a gated community for one). Over the years, the Yes Men have honed an expertise in elaborate pranks that call attention to corporate misbehavior (see the latest issue of Mother Jones for a piece by Dave Gilson on the Yes Men's MO and the changing role of the prank in the age of Borat). It definitely does get attention for causes, said Bichlbaum. It definitely gets coverage about things, and points out obvious things. Like right now the Chamber has this troglodytic stance on climate change, completely ridiculous. UPDATE: It appears CNBC also bit on the fake story. SEE ALSO: US Chamber of Commerce responds to Yes Men hoax A Yes Man talks to Mother Jones about the Chamber Prank Kate Sheppard talks to Rachel Maddow about the Yes Men stunt US Chamber spends a record $300,000 per day on lobbying video of @TheYesMen press conference, interrupted by the *actual* Chamber of Commerce: http://sn.im/yesmen1019 No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.422 / Virus Database: 270.14.24/2449 - Release Date: 10/20/09 18:42:00 image001.jpg
Re: [scifinoir2] Disney/Marvel Mashup
ahar...@earthlink.net ROTFL! THESE ARE GREAT! Amy - Original Message - From: Mr. Worf To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 4:45 AM Subject: [scifinoir2] Disney/Marvel Mashup Disney acquired Marvel Comics for $4 billion. But how will Marvel's cast of characters react to this move?... animated... -- Bringing diversity to perversity for over 9 years! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.421 / Virus Database: 270.14.15/2434 - Release Date: 10/13/09 19:11:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Could birth control pills alter mate choices?
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:40 PM Subject: World Science: Could birth control pills alter mate choices? * Could birth control pills alter mate choices?: Contraceptive pills may alter women's abilities to choose, compete for and retain mates, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091007_contraceptives * Huge hidden Saturn ring found: Astronomers are reporting the discovery of largest-known planetary ring in the Solar System. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091007_saturn * Buried coins may reveal population histories: Hidden hoards can help reveal the population trends of a given time period, a new study suggests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091005_hoards * Color plays musical chairs in brain: A color divorced from the shape to which it belongs seems to go into another one, scientists have found. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091004_color World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.421 / Virus Database: 270.14.5/2419 - Release Date: 10/07/09 05:18:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Megan Fox's Scary Box Office Problem
ahar...@earthlink.net I saw Jennifer's Body and I loved both female leads and found the film very entertaining for its genre. But then, I'm an older woman over 50. Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Megan Fox's Scary Box Office Problem From Entertainment Weekly, October 9, 2009: Jennifer's Body deadly $6.8 million debut is attributed to Megan Fox's sexy-beast persona proving off-putting to women, without whom a horror movie don't stand a chance. The genre is driven by the female audience, and I don't know that girls relate to her, says the executive. Megan leads with pure, raw sexuality, and for girls it's a turnoff. Fox's drawing power will be tested again with next summer's western Jonah Hex, aimed at her core: young guys. If I were cutting the Hex trailer, says a studio strategist, I'd make sure she was in as much of it as possible - in compromising positions. I imagine it would do even better if she could be raped during the movie. ~(no)rave! Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.420 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2415 - Release Date: 10/05/09 06:19:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Zombieville! University of Florida plan tackles invasion of undead
ahar...@earthlink.net ROTFL! Amy Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Zombieville! University of Florida plan tackles invasion of undead It's an evil conspiracy by the New World Order, I tell ya! If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: ravena...@yahoo.com Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 17:09:09 + Subject: [scifinoir2] Zombieville! University of Florida plan tackles invasion of undead GAINESVILLE, FLA. - The University of Florida's response plans for a zombie apocalypse are no longer available for public consumption. Spokesman Steve Orlando said late last week that the university removed a link to a disaster recovery exercise, which detailed how the school could respond to an outbreak of the undead. Orlando said officials felt the joke didn't really belong on the site, which also included plans for dealing with hurricanes and pandemics. The exercise lays out the university's response to attacks by flesh-eating, apparently life impaired individuals. It notes that a zombie outbreak might include documentation of lots of strange moaning. Orlando said the employee who wrote the gag wasn't punished. -- Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. Get it now. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.420 / Virus Database: 270.14.3/2415 - Release Date: 10/05/09 06:19:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Pre-'Lucy' fossils reveal secrets of human past
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 8:07 PM Subject: World Science: Pre-'Lucy' fossils reveal secrets of human past * Pre-Lucy fossils reveal secrets: The last common ancestor of chimps and humans was probably not as chimp-like as widely believed, researchers report. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091001_ardipethicus * Hyenas cooperate better than chimps, study finds: The much-maligned, dog-like creatures may beat out our ape relatives in cooperative problem-solving tests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090930_hyenas * Moon may have water: Our moon is potentially not quite as dry as it is traditionally thought to be, researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090924_water * Exotic life forms: looking for life as we don't know it: A new research group is devoted to finding out how life might evolve using chemicals not found in Earth-based life forms. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090922_lifeforms.htm * Rough day at work? You might not feel like exercising: If you use your willpower to do one task, it may deplete your willpower for a totally different task, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090929_willpower * Key to subliminal messaging: keep it negative, study suggests: Subliminal messaging is most effective when the message being conveyed is negative, according to new research. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090928_subliminal * Torture may produce unreliable information: Extreme stress appears to warp memories while motivating suspects to say anything to stop the torture, new research claims. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090921_torture * Lower IQ's measured in spanked children: Only part of the effect is due to spanking itself, but still, laws should be passed against spanking, some researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090924_spanking World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.14.1/2407 - Release Date: 10/01/09 06:34:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Tiny 'T. rex' found
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. Subject: World Science: Tiny 'T. rex' found * Tiny T. rex found: An ancestor of the giant predator resembles a miniature replica of it, at 1/90 the weight, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090918_raptorex * Showerheads may spray germs at you: Your morning scrubdown may give you more than you bargained for. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090914_shower * Negative public opinion seen as warning signal for terrorism: Terrorism is more likely when one country's people dislike the leaders and policies of another, a study has found. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090917_terrorism * Brain activity found to predict schizophrenia: A small area in our heads is linked to the earliest stages of a serious mental illness, researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090911_schizophrenia * Fungus-treated violin beats Strad in blind test: A newly developed type of violin won in a blind contest against one made by the most famed violin maker of history. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090915_violin * Graffiti shield could offer hope for paint- threatened landmarks: Graffiti mars many historic monuments, and can be hard to erase without damaging the underlying surface. But help may be coming. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090910_graffiti * Memories may persist even when forgotten: Scientists have found that a person's brain activity while remembering an event is similar to when it was first experienced, even if specifics can't be recalled. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090909_memories World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.409 / Virus Database: 270.13.103/2378 - Release Date: 09/17/09 06:18:00
Re: [scifinoir2] FW: Obama's Mistakes in Health Care Reform
ahar...@earthlink.net Totally. I made the right choice to vote for Cynthia McKinney. Outraged Amy From: kalpub...@aol.com [mailto:kalpub...@aol.com] Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 3:26 PM To: jeffreypbal...@gmail.com; tdemorse...@multiculturaladvantage.com Cc: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; dar...@darylelockhart.com; afrikanm...@hotmail.com; cbilmarket...@yahoo.com; Subject: Obama's Mistakes in Health Care Reform COUNTERPUNCH.COM http://www.counterpunch.com Labor Day Edition September 7, 2009 Why Obama Needed Single Payer on the Table Obama's Mistakes in Health Care Reform By VICENTE NAVARRO Let me start by saying that I have never been a fan of Barack Obama. Early on, I warned many on the left that his slogan, “Yes, we can,” could not be read as a commitment to the major change this country needs (see “Yes, We Can. Can We? The Next Failure of Health Reform”). Still, I actively supported him against John McCain and was very pleased when he became president – for many reasons, encompassing a broad range of feelings. O ne reason was that Obama is African-American, and the country needed to have a black president. Another was that his election seemed to signal the end of the Bush era. But, the most important reason was that I saw him as a decent man, surrounded by some good people who could promote change from the center and open up some possibilities for progress, giving the left a chance to influence the administration’s policies. Well, after just over seven months of the Obama White House, I have no reason to doubt that he is a decent man, but I am dismayed by the bad judgment he has shown in the choice of some of his staff and advisors. I really doubt that he is going to be able to make the changes we need. As I said, I never had great expectations about him and his policies, but even the lowest of my expectations have not been met. Some among the many skeptics on the left might add, “What did you expect?” Well, at least I expected Obama to show the same degree of astuteness that he and his team had shown during the campaign. He seemed to be a brilliant strategist, and his election proves this. But my greatest disappointment is the strategies he is now following in his proposals for health care reform – they could not be worse. I am really concerned that the fiasco of this reform may make Obama a one-term president. Error number One One of the two major objectives for health care reform, as emphasized by Obama, is the need to reduce medical care costs. The notion that “the economy cannot afford a medical care system so costly, with the annual increases of medical care running wild” has been repeated over and over – only the tone varies, depending on the audience. An element of this argument is Obama’s emphasis on eliminating the federal deficit. He stresses that most of the government deficit is due to the outrageous growth in costs in federal health programs. Thus, a crucial part of the message he is transmitting is the health care reform objective of reducing costs. This message, as it reaches the average citizen, seems like a threat to achieve cost reductions by cutting existing benefits. This perception is particularly accentuated among elderly people – which is not unreasonable, given that the president indicates that the funds needed to provide health benefits coverage to the 48 million currently uncovered will come partially from existing programs, such as Medicare, with savings supposedly achieved by increasing efficiency. To the average citizen (who has developed an enormous skepticism about the political process), this call for savings by increasing efficiency sounds like a code for cutting benefits. Not surprisingly , then, one sector of the population most skeptical about health care reform is seniors – the beneficiaries of Medicare. The comment that “government should keep its hands off my Medicare,” as heard at some of the town hall meetings, is not as paradoxical or ridiculous as the liberal media paint it. It makes a lot of sense. An increasing number of elderly people feel that the uninsured are going to be insured at the expense of seniors’ benefits. Error Number Two The second major objective of health care reform as presented by Obama is to provide health benefits coverage for the uncovered: the 48 million people who don’t have any form of health benefits coverage. This is an important and urgently needed intervention. The U.S. cannot claim to be a civilized nation and a defender of human rights around the world unless this major human and moral problem at home is resolved once and for all. But, however important, this is not the largest problem we have in the health care sector. The most widespread problem is not being uninsured but underinsured: the majority of people in the U.S. – 168 million, to be precise – are underinsured. And many (32 per cent) are
[scifinoir2] Big Artistic Performance to Be Set in Space
ahar...@earthlink.net Big Artistic Performance to Be Set in Space This sounds like fun. Mark your calendars, gang - Stardate Oct. 9 Big Artistic Performance to Be Set in Space (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090902-space-tourist-canada.html) By Clara Moskowitz, Staff Writer posted: 02 September 2009 The first ever widely acknowledged artistic performance from space will be broadcast from the International Space Station on Oct. 9. Orchestrated by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, who is set to launch to the station as a space tourist Sept. 30, the event will feature artists performing from 14 cities around the world, as well as Laliberte broadcasting from space. Laliberte described the event, called Moving Stars and Earth for Water, as a poetic social mission to communicate the importance water has for the planet and its people. Scientists have warned that water shortages rank with energy and food issues around the globe as top governmental issues now and in the future. Global million-dollar effort The Canadian acrobat is due to fly along with two professional astronauts aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Laliberte booked his trip with the Russian Federal Space Agency through the U.S. firm Space Adventures, which usually charges about $30 million for the excursions. Laliberte is set to stay aboard the International Space Station for about 12 days. In addition to founding Cirque du Soleil, Laliberte started the ONE DROP Foundation, which aims to fight poverty in the world by working to provide clean water to everyone. This artistic mission will permit me to raise awareness for [the] water issue, Laliberte said Wednesday in a press conference. I believe through art and emotion we can convey a universal message. The artistic event is planned to be broadcast simultaneously on Oct. 9 at 8:00 p.m. ET ( GMT) on huge screens in 14 cities, as well as online at Onedrop.org and Aol.com. A cadre of personalities, including former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Peter Gabriel, Shakira, and U2, are set to perform from Montreal, Moscow, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Marrakesh, Sydney, Tokyo, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, and London, as well as the U.S. cities New York, Santa Monica, and Tampa. Laliberte has been working with various artists on a poetic fairy tale that will tell about the importance of water through the perspective of four characters: a star, the moon, the sun and a drop of water. During the event, artists in each city will read part of the tale, as well as perform in other ways. Laliberte will also read from space coordinate the worldwide events. People should see that as a moment where the voices of the world are unifying in a specific moment and participating at an event together to talk about water, he said. This is a moment of great friendship, of great artistic rendering, I believe, and hopefully this artistic project will touch people. Though Laliberte is spending millions of dollars on this project, he said he thinks it's worth it. The space community is excited about this project, he said. We're building up a global event. I don't know what will be the end result, but so far, so good, and we're very, very happy. Training for months Laliberte has been training for moths alongside professional spaceflyers in Russia's Star City for his mission. Soon he and his crewmates, Russian Cosmonaut Maksim Surayev and NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams, will fly to Baikonur and enter quarantine in advance of their launch. Surayev and Williams are due to take up long-term residence on the space station as Expedition 21 crewmembers. I'm starting to get some butterflies inside me flying around, Laliberte said. I'm starting to get the little buzz of going up there. Laliberte, 50, is married and has five children. He said traveling to space has been a dream of his since he was a young boy watching men land on the moon for the first time. This whole thing is so much a privilege, Laliberte said.This is a fairly tale for me. Laliberte is due to become the seventh private explorer to journey to space. The last space tourist to fly was Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian software executive who made his second trip to the space station in March, also brokered through Space Adventures.
Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination Against Roma
ahar...@earthlink.net Hooray for Madonna for saying the right thing! Amy Keith, the truth is never tired-sounding... unfortunately, in this case. If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody hell hired the director? -- Charles L Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik -- To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:57:06 + Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination Against Roma You bet. Sad reminder we have so far to go before calling this world post-anything. I hate to feel this way, but I really don't think humanity has progressed ten thousand years in terms of social development and compassion. I sound like a tired old scifi flick, but our technical, military, and self-destructive might continue to outpace our ability to get along. Hope Star Trek is wrong, and we don't need another world war to finally get past our prejudices... - Original Message - From: Tracey de Morsella tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 2:37:47 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination Against Roma Thanks for the interesting read. I will pass it on From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Keith Johnson Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:06 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination Against Roma Sad. I wonder how many Americans know anything about the Roma, outside of what they've seen in movies? *** http://omg.yahoo.com/news/madonna-booed-in-bucharest-for-defending-gypsies/26947?nc BUCHAREST, Romania - At first, fans politely applauded the Roma performers sharing a stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies — and the cheers gave way to jeers. The sharp mood change that swept the crowd of 60,000, who had packed a park for Wednesday night's concert, underscores how prejudice against Gypsies remains deeply entrenched across Eastern Europe. Despite long-standing efforts to stamp out rampant bias, human rights advocates say Roma probably suffer more humiliation and endure more discrimination than any other people group on the continent. Sometimes, it can be deadly: In neighboring Hungary, six Roma have been killed and several wounded in a recent series of apparently racially motivated attacks targeting small countryside villages predominantly settled by Gypsies. There is generally widespread resentment against Gypsies in Eastern Europe. They have historically been the underdog, Radu Motoc, an official with the Soros Foundation Romania, said Thursday. Roma, or Gypsies, are a nomadic ethnic group believed to have their roots in the Indian subcontinent. They live mostly in southern and eastern Europe, but hundreds of thousands have migrated west over the past few decades in search of jobs and better living conditions. Romania has the largest number of Roma in the region. Some say the population could be as high as 2 million, although official data put it at 500,000. Until the 19th century, Romanian Gypsies were slaves, and they've gotten a mixed response ever since: While discrimination is widespread, many East Europeans are enthusiastic about Gypsy music and dance, which they embrace as part of the region's cultural heritage. That explains why the Roma musicians and a dancer who had briefly joined Madonna onstage got enthusiastic applause. And it also may explain why some in the crowd turned on Madonna when she paused during the two-hour show — a stop on her worldwide Sticky and Sweet tour — to touch on their plight. It has been brought to my attention ... that there is a lot of discrimination against Romanies and Gypsies in general in Eastern Europe, she said. It made me feel very sad. Thousands booed and jeered her. A few cheered when she added: We don't believe in discrimination ... we believe in freedom and equal rights for everyone. But she got more boos when she mentioned discrimination against homosexuals and others. I jeered her because it seemed false what she was telling us. What business does she have telling us these things? said Ionut Dinu, 23. Madonna did not react and carried on with her concert, held near the hulking palace of the late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. Her publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said Madonna and other had told her there were cheers as well as jeers. Madonna has been touring with a phenomenal troupe of Roma musicians who made her aware of the discrimination toward them in several countries so she felt compelled to
[scifinoir2] First Black Holes Starved at Birth
ahar...@earthlink.net Fascinating! Hullo all, This was in science news today. http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090814/sc_space/firstblackholesstarvedatbirth
Re: [scifinoir2] Peter Jackson takes rookie director under his wing for District 9
ahar...@earthlink.net I AM SO THERE! Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Peter Jackson takes rookie director under his wing for District 9 http://gaijeic.notlong.com chicagotribune.com Neill Blomkamp's 'District 9' wins over fanboys and Peter Jackson The science fiction film tells the story of aliens who get stranded in South Africa By Chris Lee Tribune Newspapers August 11, 2009 LOS ANGELES clear pixel -- In the docu-style, sci-fi thriller District 9, which arrives in theaters Friday, hundreds of thousands of aliens become stranded in South Africa after their massive spaceship comes to a standstill above downtown Johannesburg. Unable to fix the craft, this massive population of tentacle-waving, exoskeleton-sheathed aliens eventually outstays its welcome; they become reviled by humans for burdening the country's welfare system, even though all they really want to do is go home. Corralled into District 9 -- a rubbish-strewn refugee camp that calls to mind Mumbai's septic squalor, captured to striking effect in Slumdog Millionaire -- they are segregated from the general populace by barbed wire. There, the film's sentient yet excitable aliens are denied such basic necessities as running water and are denigrated by native earthlings as prawns for their resemblance to Sasquatch-sized shellfish. Given the film's real-life setting amid Soweto's teeming townships and its segregationist signage -- For humans only! Non-humans banned! read placards in the movie -- it's impossible not to correlate the aliens' predicament with recent South African history. And that's no accident. Call District 9 the world's first autobiographical alien apartheid movie. Writer-director Neill Blomkamp grew up in Johannesburg during an era of white minority rule; later, memories of the apartheid government's social divisiveness and authoritarian control became the most powerful influence in shaping his creative vision. It all had a huge impact on me: the white government and the paramilitary police -- the oppressive, iron-fisted military environment, Blomkamp said over breakfast recently in a Santa Monica hotel. Blacks, for the most part, were kept separate from whites. And where there was overlap, there were very clearly delineated hierarchies of where people were allowed to go. Those ideas wound up in every pixel in 'District 9.' Arriving as one of the hottest properties at San Diego's recent Comic-Con, the movie wowed its fanboy premiere audience and set the TweetDeck alight with reports that District 9 is the real deal: one of the most original sci-fi films to come along in years. It should boggle the imagination of anyone who sees the movie to discover, then, that for all its narrative assuredness and engrossing neo-realism, District 9 is the debut feature of a director who has not yet reached the tender age of 30. Moreover, despite showcasing more than 600 computer-enhanced shots of bizarro aliens, high-tech weaponry and crazy spaceship blastoffs -- much of it shot in cinéma vérité-style that one-ups last year's Cloverfield -- Blomkamp, 29, managed to shoot District 9 on a modest $30 million budget. Those merits aside, however, Sony's decision to roll out the film during the competitive summer season boils down to three words attached to District 9: Peter Jackson presents. Jackson, the Oscar-winning writer-director behind the blockbuster Lord of the Rings franchise, was key in actualizing Blomkamp's vision for District 9, producing the film, arranging its independent financing and helping Blomkamp iron out kinks in the script. He saw South African society -- both the good and bad of the society there -- and he wanted to put a science fiction spin on what he witnessed growing up because he's a science fiction geek, said Jackson, who had traveled from New Zealand to Comic-Con primarily to sing Blomkamp's praises. I really like the idea that here was a guy who was making a movie based on life experience, not just on some movie that he was a fan of. 'District 9' is not reflective of any movie that I can imagine. It's really very original, which I love about it, and that's totally Neill. But before there was a District 9, Blomkamp was attached to Halo, a planned $145 million movie adaptation of the popular space age shoot-'em-up video game of the same name. In 2005, Jackson signed on to write the script for what would have been a joint production between 20th Century Fox and Universal, also serving as its producer with the intention of hiring someone young and new to direct. Blomkamp pulled up stakes from Vancouver, Canada, to move to New Zealand and set to work at Jackson's production facility, Weta Workshop. He was just what we were after, Jackson said, one of these guys who lives and breathes film. But after months of preproduction on Halo, the project fell apart. I don't know the specifics -- it was Universal and Fox duking it out, Blomkamp said. Blomkamp was
Re: [scifinoir2] Looking forward to District 9
ahar...@earthlink.net This is so totally on my must-see list! Cheers! Amy The District 9 flick has me really intrigued. with its locale of South Africa (so different from usual Hollywood story locatons), it's gritty look, and the fact that it's a Peter Jackson joint, i have high hopes. Indeed, I'm actually looking forward to it more than I have any other movie so far this year, including Star Trek. Anyone heard any early buzz? I did find favorable reviews via jumping from Rotten Tomatoes (something I loathe to do, but as local newspapers fire more critics, I'm having to venture further afield to even find real critics). http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/ *** http://boxoffice.com/reviews/2009/07/district-9.php District 9 is about the apartheid struggle in South Africa. For those under the age of 35 or so, apartheid was the system of racial segregation legally established by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1994. No matter what else it seems to be about, District 9, a film made a young, white, South African director, is about apartheid. Co-writer/director Neill Blomkamp spent his formative years living under the system of apartheid and has conscientiously insinuated the issue into his film. The attitudes, ideals and actions of the characters, from everyday citizens to government officials and those in business, reflect those that were common during the apartheid regime. The filmmakers, including producer Peter Jackson, have stealthily laid the artifacts of these dark days beneath the guise of an Alien invasion movie that is intense, graphically novelistic (though it’s an original story) and just funny enough to keep you thoroughly entertained, even while the subtext is of a very serious nature. Buzz and an also clever marketing scheme suggest this should be worth a few bucks at the box office—especially if the audience is mostly under 35. The film is told using a number of cinematic modes including documentary footage, mockumentary footage, newsreel accounts, surveillance cameras and the standard story elements of narrative fiction. This is actually less chaotic than it sounds and serves to move the narrative along at a brisk pace. There’s little need here for filler. The filmmakers can justify any narrative exposition by putting a camera on the action (any potential camera) and just showing us, or having the characters explain the action to the cameramen. When all else fails Blomkamp inserts a movie moment and presses on. Lovely. Mister Blomkamp is a fine director who cut his teeth on commercials and music videos, and at the knee of director and special effects guru Peter Jackson. Between the two of them (Jackson’s company was employed for the effects) they’ve come up with the best CGI effects film to date. The spacecrafts, the cityscapes, the weapons effects and the aliens themselves (which we are told are 100 percent CGI) are all exceptional. But the best thing in the movie is lead actor Sharlto Copley, a long time friend of the director and fairly novice actor. Copley is pitch perfect, delicately straddling the line between ordinary Afrikaans racist and empathic hero. The narrative of District 9 revolves around a giant alien spacecraft that came to rest above downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, some 20 years before the story began. Inhabited by one million crawfish-like, cat food and raw meat eating, humanoid aliens, little can be discerned about where the ship came from or who the creatures are. They are simply here. They are strong but without direction or purpose, mostly docile and apparently of little use to humanity. So we warehouse them—in District 9. Then, we decide to forcibly move them to a different, shoddier, interment camp. While other nations are far from guiltless of such cruelties, the emphasis here is on the South African history. Still, the structures the film employs are incisive and direct and, if you’re over 35, they might piss you off. Distributor: Sony Pictures Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, William Allen Young and Robert Hobbs Director: Neill Blomkamp Screenwriters: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell Producers: Peter Jackson Genre: Science Fiction Rating: Rated R for bloody violence and pervasive language. Running Time: 113 min. Release date: August 14, 2009 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.392 / Virus Database: 270.13.45/2287 - Release Date: 08/07/09 06:22:00
[scifinoir2] Fwd: Triple Asteroid System Surprises Scientists
ahar...@earthlink.net Really cool science stuff. Fwd: Triple Asteroid System Surprises Scientists News is the most important resource for any writer. At Kalkion, we try to create a resource of information which you can use in your stories - and if you are not a writer, then keep yourself updated with the latest development in the scientific and entertainment world. Here is your today's dosage of latest updates from Kalkion. Please write to us at edi...@kalkion.com, if you have any suggestions to improve upon our services. Triple Asteroid System Surprises Scientists http://kalkion.com/news/triple-asteroid-system-surprises-scientists/447 Radar imaging at NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar on June 12 and 14, 2009, revealed that near-Earth asteroid 1994 CC is a triple system. Titan Looks Like Earth, Really? http://kalkion.com/news/titan-looks-earth-really/446 It is really surprising how closely Titan's surface resembles Earth's, says Rosaly Lopes, a planetary geologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, who is presenting the results on Friday, 7 August. Can Artists Design Robots? http://kalkion.com/news/can-artists-design-robots/445 You've heard about programs that try to teach science and math-oriented youth to build robots to increase their understanding of science and engineering. Kalkion.com newslet...@kalkion.com --- Disclaimer: This newsletter is sent to you because you have subscribed to Kalkion.com Daily Newsletter. To unsubscribe from the FREE Newsletter, please send email to newslet...@kalkion.com with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject field. If you think that this Newsletter reached you by mistake, and you don't want to receive it in future, please send an email to newslet...@kalkion.com with REMOVE in the subject field. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[scifinoir2] Two time physics
ahar...@earthlink.net Wow stuff! Two time physics A link to an article about theories of hypertime, which proposes two dimensions of time instead of one. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/large-hadron-collider/330/Are-we-missing-a-dimension-of-time.html
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: ''Dream therapy'' set for a comeback?
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 4:30 AM Subject: World Science: ''Dream therapy'' set for a comeback? * Dream therapy set for a comeback?: Similarities in brain activity between a special dreaming state and some forms of mental derangement are drawing interest from researchers. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090728_dream * Reflection is key to jewel beetle colors, scientists say: New studies could lead to applications including car paints that reflect different colors from different angles. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090725_beetles * A new way to fix a broken heart?: Researchers have reportedly devised a method to to coax mature heart muscle cells into regenerating. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090724_nrg1 * Astronomers: impact gives Jupiter bruise as wide as Pacific: Something apparently slammed into the giant planet in the last few days, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090722_jupiter * Origin of raindrop size revealed: The sizes of raindrops result from the breakup of larger droplets, new high-speed films indicate. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090720_raindrops * Fossil poop balls reveal secrets of lost world: A study has revealed an intricate network of long-ago interactions in mega-dung from giant mammals. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090718_dungbeetle * Ocean current changes predicted to be gradual: Scientists have released a rare bit of hopeful news linked to global warming. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090718_currents.htm * Cats are crafty manipulators, study finds: Anyone who has had cats knows how hard it can be to get them to do anything they don't want to do. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090713_cats.htm * %#$!? Swearing may actually reduce pain: Unleashing verbal bombs might not show great self-control, but it sure seems to help people take pain better, scientists have found. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090711_swearing World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.392 / Virus Database: 270.13.35/2271 - Release Date: 07/29/09 18:07:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Judi Ann Mason dies at 54; playwright and screenwriter
ahar...@earthlink.net ACK! Really sad news. I'm 54 too - how long will I have? Got to enjoy life as much as possible which is really hard with this goddamn economic crisis going on! Amy She helped blaze a trail for black women writers in Hollywood, starting with 'Good Times' in the 1970s. 'Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit' was among her credits. http://uibehai.notlong.com From the Los Angeles Times Judi Ann Mason dies at 54; playwright and screenwriter By Dennis McLellan July 16, 2009 Judi Ann Mason, an award-winning playwright and a film and television writer who launched her TV career on the 1970s sitcom Good Times and later co-wrote the 1993 movie comedy Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, has died. She was 54. Mason died July 8 of a ruptured aorta en route to UCLA Medical Center, said Phyllis Larrymore Kelly, her manager. She was a trailblazer for the forward progression of African American writers, film and television writer Tina Andrews told The Times on Wednesday. Most particularly, she became that trailblazer for those African American women writers who came behind her. She was certainly front and center as a role model. A Louisiana native, Mason was a 19-year-old student at Grambling State University when she saw a flier on the theater department bulletin board announcing the American College Theater Festival's 1975 Norman Lear award for best original comedy. The top prize was $2,500. I said, 'Boy, I could sure use that money,' so I wrote 'Livin' Fat,' and it won, Mason told the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1995. Mason's winning play -- about a poor black family facing the moral dilemma of whether to keep a large sum of money that had unexpectedly come into its possession -- was produced in New York while she was still in school. A few months after graduating in 1977, Mason was in Hollywood writing scripts for Lear's Good Times, a show she once described as comedic filet mignon. I never saw Judi Ann Mason without a smile, Lear said in an e-mailed statement released by the Writers Guild of America, West. She brought it to her writing and her writing brought the rest of us to laughter. She was the ultimate upper. Mason was born Feb. 2, 1955, in Bossier City, La. As a playwright, she wrote more than 25 produced plays, including A Star Ain't Nothin' but a Hole in Heaven, which won the first Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award in 1977 for best student-written plays. Her play Daughters of the Mock -- a south Louisiana-set story about a mock curse that a Creole grandmother has passed down from generation to generation to protect the family's women from abusive men -- was first produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in New York City in 1978 and reportedly has been performed at women's colleges across the country. After writing scripts for Good Times, Mason went on to write for shows including Sanford, and Beverly Hills, 90120 and co-wrote the 1996 cable TV movie Sophie the Moonhanger. Among other things, she also was executive story editor for A Different World, executive story editor for I'll Fly Away, and development executive and associate head writer for the NBC soap opera Generations. There weren't many black female writers in Hollywood when Mason started in the 1970s, said Andrews, a former actress. Mason, she said, inspired a number of African American women to become screenwriters. Andrews, whose credits include writing the award-winning 2000 CBS miniseries Sally Hemings: An American Scandal, is among them. She recalled auditioning as an actress for the daytime drama Generations in the late '80s and encountering Mason, whom she had first met in the '70s. When I saw her sitting behind that desk as somebody in a very powerful position as now a head writer, I saw what I could be, said Andrews. And when I later called her to congratulate her on this big, wonderful job, she said, 'If you want to write, then write.' She had a very powerful presence. I said, 'You know, I can do that.' And that's what happened. As a writer, Andrews said, Mason wrote positive, dignified characters, particularly her black characters. She had strong, realistic dialogue. It sounded like your sister, your aunt, your girlfriend: It was real, and I wanted to write like that. That's why she inspired so many of us. Mason is survived by her daughter, Mason Synclaire Williams; her son, Austin Barrett Williams; and her siblings, Viola Mason Johnson, Waletta Cookie Dunn and Willie Gene Mason. A memorial service for Mason will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in the Prayer Chapel on the East Campus of the Church on the Way, 14300 Sherman Way, Van Nuys. dennis.mclel...@latimes.com Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links
Re: [RE][scifinoir2] To boldly go to Mars, Buzz Aldrin writes
ahar...@earthlink.net Yep - agree about the Moon first thing. Peace, Amy Great story, Brent, and thanks for the send! And, as much as I would love to see people on Mars in my lifetime, I believe that we need to have a strong foothold on the Moon first, to use it as a base of operations. -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] To boldly go to Mars, Buzz Aldrin writes Date : Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:13:47 -0400 From : brent wodehouse brent_wodeho...@thefence.us To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/boldly+Mars/1798832/story.html To boldly go to Mars Forget the moon, the next goal should be to colonize the Red Planet, Buzz Aldrin writes By BUZZ ALDRIN, Freelance July 17, 2009 On the spring morning in 1927 when Charles Lindbergh set off alone across the Atlantic Ocean, only a handful of explorer-adventurers were capable of even attempting the feat. Many had tried before Lindbergh's successful flight, but all had failed and many lost their lives in the process. Most people then thought transatlantic travel was an impossible dream. But 40 years later, 20,000 people a day were safely flying the same route that the Lone Eagle had voyaged. Transatlantic flight had become routine. Forty years ago yesterday, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and I began our quarter-million-mile journey through the blackness of space to reach the moon. Neil and I walked its dusty ancient soil, becoming the first humans to stand upon another world. Yet today, no nation - including the U.S. - is capable of sending anyone beyond Earth's orbit, much less deeper into space. For the past four years, NASA has been on a path to resume lunar exploration with people, duplicating (in a more complicated fashion) what Neil, Mike and our colleagues did four decades ago. But this approach - called the Vision for Space Exploration - is not visionary; nor will it ultimately be successful in restoring U.S. space leadership. Like its Apollo predecessor, this plan will prove to be a dead end littered with broken spacecraft, broken dreams and broken policies. Instead, I propose a new Unified Space Vision, a plan to ensure U.S. space leadership for the 21st century. It wouldn't require building new rockets from scratch, as current plans do, and it would make maximum use of the capabilities we have without breaking the bank. It is a reasonable and affordable plan - if we again think in visionary terms. On television and in movies, Star Trek showed what could be achieved when we dared to boldly go where no man has gone before. In real life, I've travelled that path, and I know that with the right goal and support from most Americans, we can boldly go, again. A race to the moon is a dead end. While the lunar surface can be used to develop advanced technologies, it is a poor location for homesteading. The moon is a lifeless, barren world, its stark desolation matched by its hostility to all living things. And replaying the glory days of Apollo will not advance the cause of U.S. space leadership or inspire the support and enthusiasm of the public and the next generation of explorers. Our next generation must think boldly in terms of a goal for the space program: Mars for our future. I am not suggesting a few visits to plant flags and do photo-ops but a journey to make the first homestead in space: an American colony on a new world. Robotic exploration of Mars has yielded tantalizing clues about what was once a water-soaked planet. Deep beneath the soils of Mars might lie trapped frozen water, possibly with traces of still-extant primitive life forms. Climate change on a vast scale has reshaped Mars. With Earth in the throes of its own climate evolution, human outposts on Mars could be a virtual laboratory to study these vast planetary changes. And the best way to study Mars is with the two hands, eyes and ears of a geologist, first on a moon orbiting Mars and then on the Red Planet's surface. Mobilizing the space program to focus on a human colony on Mars while at the same time helping our international partners explore the moon on their own would galvanize public support for space exploration and provide a cause to inspire students. Mars exploration would
[scifinoir2] Fw: Trouble the Water is coming out on DVD
Trouble the Water ahar...@earthlink.net Excellent doc about Huricane Katrina survivors. - Original Message - From: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin Subject: Trouble the Water is coming out on DVD It's here. You can finally own the DVD of Academy Award® nominated Trouble the Water. The DVD hits stores on August 25th, but as a member of the Trouble the Water network, we wanted to give you a chance to not only order the DVD ahead of time, but with a discount. The retail price is $29.99, but for a limited time the DVD will be available directly from the distributor at the discounted price of $22.49. Order the DVD today: http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/buythedvd We have been so moved and inspired by the response to Trouble the Water, and are thrilled that it will now reach an even wider audience. If you've already seen the film in the cinema, at a community screening, or on HBO, now you can own the DVD, watch it and share it in your home, and give it as a gift. And if you haven't seen it yet, now's your chance! Order the DVD now from Zeitgeist Films and get a 25% discount: http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/buythedvd With the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching next month, it's a good time to see Trouble the Water, share it, and remember. We thank you for helping to make sure that this story is not forgotten. Sincerely, Carl Deal Tia Lessin directors of Trouble the Water This email was sent to: ahar...@earthlink.net To unsubscribe, go to: http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/unsubscribe No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.15/2239 - Release Date: 07/15/09 06:07:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: MJ Update
ahar...@earthlink.net Of great interest. - Original Message - From: Barry Chamish To: cham...@netvision.net.il Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 10:44 PM Subject: MJ Update LaToya Jackson: Michael Was 'Murdered' PopEater posted: 2 HOURS 44 MINUTES AGO comments: 1570 filed under: Music News Print Share Text SizeAAA Skip over this content WireImage Speaking out for the first time, the grieving sister of Michael Jackson says she thinks a shadowy entourage led to the death of her brother, accusing them of murdering him. Speaking with Britain's Daily Mail, LaToya Jackson -- who signed the King of Pop's death certificate -- says that Michael was an isolated figure, making him easy prey for greedy associates. She accuses these people, whether it be doctors, handlers or assistants, of feeding Jackson drugs to control his moods in order to get what they want. I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start. Not just one person was involved, rather it was a conspiracy of people. He was surrounded by a bad circle. Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took advantage of that. People fought to be close to him, people who werenâ?Tt always on his side, LaToya said. LaToya then said that she predicted her brother's demise Less than a month ago. Skip over this content 'Heâ?Ts never going to make it to London. He was worth more dead than alive, LaToya said she told fellow Jackson family members, I said I thought Michael was going to die before the London shows because he was surrounded by people who didnâ?Tt have his best interests at heart. Michael was worth more than a billion dollars. When anyone is worth that much money, there are always greedy people around them. LaToya continues, saying that in the final months, her brother was isolated from his family. He had no real friends. He was the loneliest man in the world. I knew something terrible was going to happen. She also takes on the speculation as to what role Jackson's doctor, Conrad Murray, played in the King of Pop's final hours. LaToya says Murray disappeared from the hospital after she began peppering him with questions about her brother's health. She says that Jackson was found in Murray's bedroom in the rental house, and that oxygen canisters and IV bags lined the walls. Skip over this content Jackson says that Murray mumbled a bunch of nothing as she grilled him with questions. He said something like, 'Michael didnâ?Tt make it, Iâ?Tm sorry.' It wasnâ?Tt right. It felt weird. LaToya also goes on to retell just exactly how her life changed when she got the frantic phone call about her brother. I was at home when I received the news that Michael had been rushed to the hospital. I live about three minutes away from Michael in Beverly Hills, LaToya said. Finally, I heard Mother in the background asking, 'Who is that?' When she learned it was me, she screamed, 'Why donâ?Tt you just tell her?' and she grabbed the phone and just screamed as loud as she could, He's dead!' Jackson says she nearly crashed my car. My legs went weak. I couldnâ?Tt press down on the gas pedal. I got to the wrong entrance at the hospital and was begging the security guys to help me and take my car because I was so weak and faint. They took me up to the area where Michael had been taken. Mother was crying and Michaelâ?Ts kids were crying. LaToya says she and Jackson's three children then went to view his body. There was a towel over his face and I lifted it and the kids saw him and Paris said, 'Oh Daddy, I love you.' We hugged and kissed him and the children lifted up his hands. He didn't look like he was gone. His eyes were half open and he looked like he was sleeping. He wasnâ?Tt cold. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.12/2235 - Release Date: 07/13/09 05:56:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Question: When does the hate stop and human decency begin?
ahar...@earthlink.net Much as I disagree with The President's betrayals of every change we can believe in - becoming President 'Obusha' essentially, this kind of racist insanity has got to stop. We need a whole lot of educating, starting at very young ages. I voted for Cynthia McKinney, Amy Hate to post this, but I found this from a Princeton professor friend of mine. http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=101100539206h=Wq46xu=HJmBoref=nf -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.12/2233 - Release Date: 07/12/09 08:20:00
[scifinoir2] A Cosmic Call to Nearby Stars
ahar...@earthlink.net A Cosmic Call to Nearby Stars Link to an interesting page on Astronomy Picture of The Day _http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090712.html_ (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090712.html) Follow this link to decode the message and read discussion about active SETI _http://library.thinkquest.org/C003763/pdf/interview01.pdf_ (http://library.thinkquest.org/C003763/pdf/interview01.pdf)
Re: [RE][scifinoir2] Moon puts fiction back in science fiction
ahar...@earthlink.net I saw Moon and loved it! It's that rare thing - an SF film that actually has an intelligent plot and good characterization as well as excellent visuals. It's still playing in a couple of art houses here in NYC. Cheers! Amy Not to stir you up again, Martin, but that's the slight thing that worries me about the new Star Trek. More focus on the gadgetry and FX than the original, and I wince when I hear people say (as the Onion spoofed) that it was fun!. As if that's all there is to Trek to be meaningful, and all they want going forward. - Original Message - From: Martin Baxter truthseeker...@lycos.com To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 4:02:21 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] Moon puts fiction back in science fiction rave, this draws me to the movie more than its initial premise. Also reminds me of an argument I had with my Last Ex, her decrying science fiction for being little more than flashy lasers and zoomy spaceships. If I were still on speaking terms with her, I'd forward her this. -[ Received Mail Content ]-- Subject : [scifinoir2] Moon puts fiction back in science fiction Date : Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:53:12 - From : ravenadal ravena...@yahoo.com To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhIB0mqbPiE http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/50384927.html Lonely man in the 'Moon' By Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel Posted: July 9, 2009 Moon is one small step for mankind. It puts the fiction back into science fiction, not because it's unbelievable but because it's a life-size and plausible portrait of our daily gravity. Too many genre films are virtual, superheroic variations on arbitrary themes and are slaves to the digital technologies that allow them to portray anything. The less-is-more aesthetic of Moon, by comparison, is a reminder that true creativity is a function of ideas and imagination. In much the same way we take for granted the fact that science drives our lives in countless and invisible ways, Moon takes a satisfyingly pragmatic approach to the extraordinary. And in the process, it puts a human face and heart at the center of its universe - a man in the moon, if you will. Sam Rockwell portrays the only human employee at a lunar factory where his companion is a HAL-like computer named Gerty, voiced by Kevin Spacey. For technical reasons, Rockwell cannot communicate directly with home; he sees his daughter grow up in tape-delayed messages from his wife and watches old sitcom reruns. Rockwell is just two weeks away from completing a three-year service contract and returning to Earth. If he is going a bit buggy, talking to his plants and seeing things, these seem a reasonable response to his isolation. Unless, of course, they represent something else. Perhaps things are not as they seem. Perhaps he is not really alone. Or perhaps he is more alone than he knows. Lunacy runs in the family of director Duncan Jones: His singer-songwriter father, David Bowie, imagined all manner of star men, space oddities and spiders from Mars. But if there is an apple-doesn't-fall-far-from-the-tree quality to the material, the approach has its roots in the golden age of science fiction. The miniatures, matte paintings and digital effects do not dazzle; like Rockwell's space suit worn with use, they add a scruffy realism. The way Jones' camera looms over cramped spaces like a surveillance video adds a Big Brother feel to the piece. And the edgy, slightly crazed Rockwell, practically the only actor in the film, is a sympathetic, cautionary figure howling at the moon. Moon is not about the dangers of technology, but mankind's misuse of it. Even before President John Kennedy vowed to make landing on the moon a national priority, the exploitation of it for war or profit seemed inevitable. Moon portrays such possibilities, in service of some greater good, as the banal oppression of the very qualities that make us human. E-mail: ddu...@journalsentinel.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.9/2229 - Release Date: 07/10/09 07:05:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Monkeys live longer after eating lighter, study finds
ahar...@earthlink.net - Original Message - From: World Science To: emailn...@world-science.net Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 11:04 AM Subject: World Science: Monkeys live longer after eating lighter, study finds * Monkeys live longer after eating lighter: study Cutting calories by 30 percent seems to have remarkable effects, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090709_caloric * A theory of everything is said to solve its first real-world problem: String theory, which postulates extra dimensions, has long been criticized for making promises that it failed to live up to. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090707_string * Could coffee reverse Alzheimer's?: Studies with mice are suggesting surprising new possibilities for treating the memory disorder, according to researchers. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090705_alzheimers * People only sometimes seek out opposing views, research finds: People tend to avoid ideas they disagree with -- but some factors can prompt them to seek out such points of view, scientists report. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090702_opinion.htm * Finding may help explain giant black holes: Astronomers are reporting that they have discovered a new class of black holes: mid-sized ones. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090701_blackhole * Scientists look to bat caves for fountains of youth: Scientists are batty over a finding they say could lead to a breakthrough -- significantly longer lifespans. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090701_tadarida * Scientists report capturing first image of memories being made: Biologists say they have captured the first image of a mechanism underlying long-term memory formation. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090625_memory * Flute said to be oldest handcrafted musical instrument: Early modern humans may have been dancing to bird-bone flutes as early as 35,000 years ago, archaeologists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090625_flute * Oceans in Enceladus? Scientists can't decide: Two contrasting findings are leaving researchers unsure whether a distant moon has underground oceans. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090624_enceladus * Need something? Talk to my right ear!: Most of us prefer to be addressed in our right ear, and are more likely grant a request when we hear it from the right, an unusual investigation has found. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090618_hemisphere-bias World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.8/2227 - Release Date: 07/09/09 05:55:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Study turns pigeons into 'art critics'
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. * Study turns pigeons into art critics: A Japanese researcher is reporting that he has trained birds to tell apart good and bad children's paintings. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090618_pigeons-art * Giant black holes found to be even heavier than thought: New findings may affect the way astronomers theorize about galactic evolution. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090607_blackholes * Guilty look in dogs mostly owners' fantasy, scientists say: People may see guilt in a dog's body language when they think the dog did something wrong - even if it didn't. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090615_dog * Researchers find a touch of glass in metal: Metals and ceramics have more in common with glass than has been previously recognized, a new study indicates. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090618_polycrystal * Lion tamers step aside: beasts could be tamed through genes Recent research raises the prospect that humans could tame untameable species in new ways. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090612_tameness * Brain energy use proposed as key to under- standing consciousness: Some researchers are proposing a new approach to understanding a mysterious state of being. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090617_energy * Birds didn't come from dinosaurs, study suggests : New findings about bird breathing abilities challenge entrenched ideas, some scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090610_dinosaur World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional.
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Gang membership and 'warrior genes'
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. * Do sex cells hold the secret to long life?: The secret of longevity may lurk within the genetic activity of sperm and eggs, new research suggests. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090607_germline * Ocean acidification to trigger job losses, scientists warn: Ocean acidification, a consequence of human activity, is set to change marine ecosystems forever, scientists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090601-acidification * Warrior gene found rife among young thugs: Boys with a particular variant of a gene are more likely to join gangs -- and to be among their most violent members, researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090605-maoa * Sandcastle secrets could help revive ancient building technique: The secret of a successful sandcastle could aid the revival of an ancient, eco-friendly building method, according to some engineers. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090604-sandcastle * When evolution isn't so slow and gradual: Guppies introduced into new habitats developed new and advantageous traits in just a few years, a study has found. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090602-evolution World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.339 / Virus Database: 270.12.55/2160 - Release Date: 06/07/09 05:53:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: Fantasy author David Eddings dies
SFcrowsnest Monthly Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine ahar...@earthlink.net Forwarding. I'm enough of a pessimist that I'm going to continue writing fantasy. David Eddings - author, friend. Issue 187.5 - June 2009 19 years online ( counting) NEWS EXTRA June 2009 I don't normally do one-shot news updates because of the eye-wateringly large cost of e-mailing the whole SFcrowsnest subscriber base, but I'll make an exception for David. One of the great ones has gone and his death leaves the fantasy field many worlds poorer. Stephen Hunt June 3rd 2009 David Eddings passes away Fantasy author David Eddings has sadly passed away, aged 77, last night. Best-selling and popular are often epithets that are applied to authors on writers' press releases, but in David's case, it was well deserved. His commercial success, says fantasy author Stephen Hunt, paved the way for a whole generation of doorstopper-sized fantasy series. -- Stephen Hunt's third fantasy novel set in the Jackelian world... The Rise of The Iron Moon From the author of The Court of the Air and The Kingdom Beyond the Waves comes a thrilling new adventure set in the same Victorian-style world. Born into captivity as a product of the Royal Breeding House, friendless orphan Purity Drake suddenly finds herself on the run with a foreign vagrant from the North after accidentally killing one of her guards. Her strange rescuer claims he is on the run himself from terrible forces who mean to enslave the Kingdom of Jackals as they conquered his own nation. Purity doubts his story, until reports begin to filter through from Jackals' neighbours of the terrible Army of Shadows, marching across the continent and sweeping all before them. But there's more to Purity than meets the eye. As Jackals girds itself for war against an army of near-unkillable beasts serving an ancient evil with a terrible secret, it soon becomes clear that their only hope is a strange little royalist girl and the last, desperate plan of an escaped slave. Available now on Amazon - click here. -- Stephen Hunt's The Kingdom Beyond the Waves - NOW out in paperback (UK) A deadly obsession, a lunatic steamman, a u-boat full of convict sailors. You're sailing to your death ... Professor Amelia Harsh is obsessed with finding the lost civilisation of Camlantis, a legendary city from pre-history that is said to have conquered hunger, war and disease -- tempering the race of man's baser instincts by the creation of the perfect pacifist society. It is an obsession that is to cost her dearly. She returns home to the Kingdom of Jackals from her latest archaeological misadventure to discover that the university council has finally stripped her of her position in retaliation for her heretical research. Without official funding, Amelia has no choice but to accept the offer of patronage from the man she blames for her father's bankruptcy and suicide, the fiercely intelligent and incredibly wealthy Abraham Quest. He has an ancient crystal-book that suggests the Camlantean ruins are buried under one of the sea-like lakes that dot the murderous jungles of Liongeli. Amelia undertakes an expedition deep into the dark heart of the jungle, blackmailing her old friend Commodore Black into ferrying her along the huge river of the Shedarkshe on his ancient u-boat. With an untrustworthy crew of freed convicts, Quest's force of female mercenaries on board and a lunatic steamman safari hunter acting as their guide, Amelia's luck can hardly get any worse. But she's as yet unaware that her quest for the perfect society is about to bring her own world to the brink of destruction! Hardback http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingdom-Beyond-Waves-Stephen-Hunt/dp/0007232209 Paperback http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingdom-Beyond-Waves-Stephen-Hunt/dp/0007232217 Science fiction and fantasy events upcoming shortly: ApolloCon 2009 26/06/2009 - 28/06/2009 United States - Houston Science Fiction Con Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins 05/06/2009 - 05/07/2009 United States - Various Cinema release Finncon 2009 10/07/2009 - 12/07/2009 Finland - Helsinki Science Fiction Con Ancient City Con III 18/07/2009 - 19/07/2009 United States - Jacksonville Science Fiction Con Find the full list of cons and events over here. -- Stephen Hunt's
[scifinoir2] Philip José Farmer dies
ahar...@earthlink.net Philip José Farmer dies A real shame. Author Philip José Farmer Dies (http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html) By Ian Randal Strock February 25, 2009 Philip José Farmer's web site reports the death of the author peacefully in his sleep in the morning of 25 February 2009. Born 26 January 1918 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer won three Hugo Awards (Most Promising New Talent, 1953; Best Novella [Riders of the Purple Wage], 1968; and Best Novel [To Your Scattered Bodies Go], 1972), the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Grand Master Award (2001), and the World Fantasy Award's Lifetime Achievement Award (2001). Farmer's first short story, O'Brien and Obrenov, appeared in Adventure in March 1946. In 1950, after a twelve-year hiatus (and a break to wash out of the Army Air Corps flight training program), he received his BA in English from Bradley University. In August 1952, Startling Stories published his first science fiction story, The Lovers. Farmer's first published novel was The Green Odyssey, which Ballantine released in 1957. In 1953, however, Farmer's I Owe for the Flesh won the Shasta prize novel contest. And though the prize was never paid, the book was the first in what would become his iconic Riverworld series. That series posits that everyone who has ever lived on Earth, from cavemen to 1984, is resurrected along the banks of a million mile long river. A character dying along the river simply wakes up somewhere else the next day. In these stories, Farmer has characters from any point in history meeting, interacting, and frequently fighting. Farmer also wrote the Dayworld series, in which overpopulation requires that people be placed in suspended animation for six days out of seven, each living but one day, and sharing their homes, jobs, and lives with six other people. Then, of course, there are daybreakers, who live different lives each day of the week. And his World of Tiers series introduced the idea of Pocket Universes, which have different physical laws. In the 1970s, when Farmer was suffering from writer's block, he turned his efforts to writing other people's novels; specifically, he wrote Venus on the Half-Shell by Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Kilgore Trout. He also wrote as Ralph vvon Wau Wau, who came to life on his own when Spider Robinson had him appear in Callahan's Bar. Farmer is survived by his wife, Bette (whom he married in 1941), as well as children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Re: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT
ahar...@earthlink.net www.democracynow.org - best indy journalism program out there, covered this. Peace, Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT This is way way way OT but a great man has passed and I felt it should be noted. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400685_obitrobideau20.html American Indian activist Robideau dies at 61 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PORTLAND, Ore. -- Robert Robideau, an American Indian activist who was acquitted of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout in South Dakota, has died. He was 61. Robideau had been living in Barcelona, Spain, where authorities said that his death Tuesday may have been related to seizures caused by shrapnel left in his head from an accidental explosion. Robideau, a Portland native, was the cousin of Leonard Peltier and a member of the American Indian Movement who had occupied the reservation town of Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973, two years before the shootout. His son, Michael, told The Oregonian that Robideau attended Roosevelt High School and received a degree in cultural anthropology from Portland State University. The newspaper said that Robideau left for South Dakota in the early 1970s with several family members, including Peltier, to join AIM and its protests against poverty and corruption on tribal reservations. In June 1975, two FBI agents followed a man wanted in the theft of a pair of cowboy boots onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The agents soon came under heavy rifle fire and were killed. The FBI identified Peltier as a suspect in the shooting and placed him on their most wanted list. Months later, Robideau was driving Peltier's station wagon through Kansas with other AIM members when ammunition in the car accidentally exploded. Robideau, who was seriously injured, was arrested and tried for the FBI agent killings, but was acquitted. Peltier was arrested by Oregon State Police troopers while driving through Oregon and later convicted of the FBI shootings. He is serving two life sentences. Robideau appeared in Incident at Oglala, the 1992 documentary about the Pine Ridge shootings narrated by actor Robert Redford and directed by Michael Apted. Robideau later became a painter, concentrating on tribal themes. He led a committee seeking a pardon for Peltier and served as director of the American Indian Movement Museum in Barcelona, which displayed some of his paintings. He is survived by his wife, Pilar of Barcelona, Spain; and sons, Michael of Portland and Bobby of South Dakota. Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.3/1969 - Release Date: 02/24/09 06:43:00
Re: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT
ahar...@earthlink.net www.democracynow.org - best indy journalism program out there, covered this. Peace, Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT This is way way way OT but a great man has passed and I felt it should be noted. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400685_obitrobideau20.html American Indian activist Robideau dies at 61 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PORTLAND, Ore. -- Robert Robideau, an American Indian activist who was acquitted of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout in South Dakota, has died. He was 61. Robideau had been living in Barcelona, Spain, where authorities said that his death Tuesday may have been related to seizures caused by shrapnel left in his head from an accidental explosion. Robideau, a Portland native, was the cousin of Leonard Peltier and a member of the American Indian Movement who had occupied the reservation town of Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973, two years before the shootout. His son, Michael, told The Oregonian that Robideau attended Roosevelt High School and received a degree in cultural anthropology from Portland State University. The newspaper said that Robideau left for South Dakota in the early 1970s with several family members, including Peltier, to join AIM and its protests against poverty and corruption on tribal reservations. In June 1975, two FBI agents followed a man wanted in the theft of a pair of cowboy boots onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The agents soon came under heavy rifle fire and were killed. The FBI identified Peltier as a suspect in the shooting and placed him on their most wanted list. Months later, Robideau was driving Peltier's station wagon through Kansas with other AIM members when ammunition in the car accidentally exploded. Robideau, who was seriously injured, was arrested and tried for the FBI agent killings, but was acquitted. Peltier was arrested by Oregon State Police troopers while driving through Oregon and later convicted of the FBI shootings. He is serving two life sentences. Robideau appeared in Incident at Oglala, the 1992 documentary about the Pine Ridge shootings narrated by actor Robert Redford and directed by Michael Apted. Robideau later became a painter, concentrating on tribal themes. He led a committee seeking a pardon for Peltier and served as director of the American Indian Movement Museum in Barcelona, which displayed some of his paintings. He is survived by his wife, Pilar of Barcelona, Spain; and sons, Michael of Portland and Bobby of South Dakota. Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.3/1969 - Release Date: 02/24/09 06:43:00
Re: [scifinoir2] New California Gold Rush? Tax proposal on Marijuana
ahar...@earthlink.net Progressives have been clamoring for the decriminilization and taxation of pot for years. Amy New California Gold Rush? Tax proposal on Marijuana by frog belly white Mon Feb 23, 2009 at 11:53:53 AM PST As everyone knows the state of California is knee deep in debt and the outlook doesn't look very promising for the future to get their economy jump started even with the stimulus bill being passed. Finally a state assemblyman had a lightbulb moment to make some money on the biggest cash crop going that doesn't get taxed -- pot. a.. frog belly white's diary :: :: b.. Taxing marijuana to raise revenue for your state, it almost sounds like a no brainer but California will be the first state in the country to tackle this. According to the news story that ran this morning at NORML this idea has caught fire with the California State Assembly. The estimate of the amount of revenue raised is close to one billion dollars a year. California is just such a trend setting state and even though I live in Arizona this idea if it worked would spread like wildfire through the rest of the nation. This is the biggest news story of the year about marijuana reform and taxing it would not interfere with the medical marijuana laws since they are totally different issues. Here in Arizona we are gearing up for a medical cannabis initiative to go on the ballot for 2010 so things are just moving along. So what does everyone think about this turn of events? It's almost too good to be true since this has been a hot topic at DailyKos for months. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.3/1968 - Release Date: 02/23/09 18:22:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: The psychology behind suicide attacks
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. Subject: World Science: The psychology behind suicide attacks * Richest biological zones found to suffer most wars: More than four in five wars in recent times arose in areas identified as the most biologically diverse, a study indicates. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090221_war * Green Comet visits neighborhood: Astronomers are keeping a close eye on a greenish comet fast approaching Earth's vicinity. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090220_lulin * Collective rituals spur support for suicide attacks: researchers: A new study proposes that acts of war by self- destruction are part of a larger psychological phenomenon. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090219_suicide * Running hamsters, tapping fingers tapped for energy: A rodent may be doing its own small part to provide a renewable electricity source. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090217_energy * Cosmologists aim to reveal time's first moments: Scientists want to test whether random, microscopic fluctuations in the fabric of space and time spawned the universe. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090216_origins * HIV gene therapy trial results seen as positive: A new treatment appeared to safely boost the number of immune system cells of a type normally attacked by HIV, according to researchers. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090215_oz1 World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.2/1965 - Release Date: 02/21/09 15:36:00
[scifinoir2] FW: Open Letter to the NY Post from John Legend
Message ahar...@earthlink.net Eloquently said! MORE NEWS | MOBILE | PHOTOS | EVENTS | MYSPACE | LATEST NEWS FROM JOHN LEGEND Open Letter to the New York Post Dear Editor: I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the chimpanzee that went crazy. I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and should be shot to protect the larger community. Really? Did it occur to you that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama and the deranged chimpanzee? Did it occur to you that our President has been receiving death threats since early in his candidacy? Did it occur to you that blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist insult and mockery? Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you printed the cartoon? If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots. If it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans. Either way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is truly reprehensible. I can't imagine what possible justification you have for this. I've read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked. Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an opportunity to attack Rev. Sharpton. This is not about Rev. Sharpton. It's about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive. I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every right to print what you want. But freedom of speech still comes with responsibilities and consequences. You are responsible for printing this cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it. I'm personally boycotting your paper and won't do any interviews with any of your reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business to do so as well. I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their business relationships with you as well. You should print an apology in your paper acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should not have been printed. I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth. As we attempt to rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new administration and put black folks in our place. Please feel free to criticize and honestly evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary images and rhetoric. Sincerely, John Legend DOWNLOAD EVOLVER HERE: iTunes | Amazon | Rhapsody | Napster | Zune Visit johnlegend.com for more news. EVOLVER Order from: MyPlay Amazon iTunes BIO Check out JOHN LEGEND's bio here! PHOTOS Check out JOHN LEGEND's latest photos here! VIDEOS Check out JOHN LEGEND's new Videos here! Trouble Reading This? Click Here for an HTML Version. This email was sent to dbjeff...@hotmail.com Click here if you no longer wish to receive mailings from the John Legend newsletter or to view or update your subscriptions. This email was sent by: Sony Music Entertainment | 550 Madison Avenue 24th Floor | New York, NY 10022 Click here to view our privacy policy. COLUMBIA and the Columbia
[scifinoir2] Trillions of Planets Could Be Supporting Life
ahar...@earthlink.net Trillions of Planets Could Be Supporting Life Folks: Here's an article that supports the Star Trek view of the Universe. Diversity. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5739563.ece
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Wonderful media site
ahar...@earthlink.net Excellent. Bookmarked the site. Thanks, Amy --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, Maurice C. Jennings mcjennings...@... wrote: Instant newspapers from around the world! http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/ One of the most useful sites I have found. First select an area of the world from the horizontal global menu. Then put your mouse on a city anywhere in the region or nation and the newspaper headlines pop up. Double click and the page gets larger and then you can click on the website to go directly to the newspaper. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.10.23/1952 - Release Date: 02/13/09 18:29:00
[scifinoir2] Talk about Pollution!
ahar...@earthlink.net http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090213/ap_on_sc/eu_satellite_collision Folks: Here is an article with statistics on the polluted condition in near-Earth orbit. If you're writing anything about near-space, you need to read this article. If you're not writing, you can just deplore loudly the way humans behave when it comes to garbage.
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Cracking the code of the common cold
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. * Researchers cracking code of the cold: With new genetic insights, scientists say a cure may be on the horizon for the common cold. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090212_rhinovirus * In early humans, jaws of steel: Nut-cracking abilities in our distant ancestors let them adapt to changing circumstances, a study suggests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090211_africanus * Longevity gene may boost lifespan: A variation in a gene called FOXO3A seems to increase human life expectancy in populations worldwide, scientists report. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090211_fox03a.htm * Birthplace of Zeus found?: Mounting evidence supports a legend linking the king of Greek gods to Mt. Lykaion in Greece, archaeologists say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090209_zeus * Wolf in dog's clothing? Study points to twist in fur color: Although dogs descend from wolves, dogs may have passed a helpful genetic mutation back to some wolves. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090206_wolf * Stem cell recipe gets even simpler: One chemical can convert cells from adult mice into the powerful embryonic-like stem cells needed in medicine, biologists report. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090205_cells World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.234 / Virus Database: 270.10.23/1948 - Release Date: 02/10/09 17:44:00
Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Texas Congressman Looks to Taliban for Ways to Oppose Dems
ahar...@earthlink.net Me too - I could just puke! My Lord, just when I think they can't sink any lower. How is it that some people can condemn a man for not wearing a flag pin, or a woman for tearfully saying she's really truly proud of this country for the first time, yet spew such hatred and vitriol? I've listened to McCain/Palin try to call Obama a terrorist, a Muslim, and a socialist...I've suffered through that bigot Limbaugh uttering his I hope he fails statement (something that would have gotten a Dem pilloried for uttering)...I've watched as Boehner and his cronies have been combative and disrespectful from day one. How the hell can people who recently called those of us who opposed the Iraqi invasion traitor, who deemed every move by Bush something from the will of God, who couched the entire Middle East conflict in terms of Good and Evil, allow this kind of talk. The hypocricy and malice behind these people makes me ill... [ The Dallas Morning News - February 6, 2009] Sessions' call for GOP 'insurgency' draws fire 12:00 AM CST on Friday, February 6, 2009 By LAURA ISENSEE / The Dallas Morning News lisen...@dallasnews.com WASHINGTON – The Republicans are taking a page from the Taliban's book. So says one of their own leaders. Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, the leader of the GOP's House campaign arm, compared the party to the terrorist-supporting Afghan group in an interview with the Hotline, a Washington political newsletter. He was trying to describe the Republicans' strategy for the 2010 midterm elections. Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban, Sessions said during the 60-minute sitdown. And that is that they went about systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire processes. He continued: I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. ... I'm saying an example of how you go about [it] is to change a person from their messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with. Neither Sessions' congressional office or the GOP House campaign committee offered any immediate comment. Sessions' Democratic counterpart called the comments shocking. Sessions should put partisanship aside and join our fight to urgently turn our economy around and get Americans working again, Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said in a written statement. In the past, comparisons of conservative Republicans to the Islamic fundamentalist Taliban have sparked outrage. It may be a first, though, for a politician to invoke the comparison on his own colleagues. But Sessions has been known to get a little carried away in taking on the other party, too. Last fall at a GOP rally, the congressman taunted a noisy Democratic interloper: Aren't you glad your mommy and daddy take care of you? You couldn't hold a job if you had to. -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.233 / Virus Database: 270.10.20/1943 - Release Date: 02/10/09 07:20:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Fossil snake said to break length record
ahar...@earthlink.net Cool science stuff. * Fossil snake said to break length record: An ancient South American snake that might make today's feared anacondas seem almost cuddly is renewing discussion on why giant species evolve. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090204_titanoboa * Like Earth, if you overlook the lava everywhere?: A European satellite has revealed a planet only twice as large as Earth orbiting a distant star, astronomers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090204_exo-7b * Insulin may help treat Alzheimer's: Scientists are reporting that a substance commonly used to treat diabetes may also protect against the devastating memory-robbing illness. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090202_alzheimers * Chemical found to trigger locust swarming: A common brain chemical in humans also sparks the Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation of desert locusts, scientists report. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090130_locust World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.0.233 / Virus Database: 270.10.17/1934 - Release Date: 02/04/09 08:24:00
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Ill-fated ice man may have suffered two assaults
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. TOP STORIES * Ill-fated ice man may have suffered two assaults: Scientists say they've revealed a new chapter in a murder case some 5,300 years old. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090128_otzi * When a stone lands in water: Physicists are clarifying how one of nature's most beautiful spectacles unfolds: the dance of a watery surface hit by a falling stone. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090129_stone * Alarming bone deterioration after long space flights: Months spent in space may raise astronauts' risk for fractures later in life, a study suggests. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090127_astronaut * Mightier sperm in cuckolded species: Where infidelity prevails, sperm evolve to be faster and bigger to cope with the competition, researchers claim. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090126_sperm MORE NEWS: * Schizophrenia reassessed as fixation on self: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090123_schizophrenia * Micro-motors would fit to swim human arteries: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090120_microbots * Cannibalism creates huge stars: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090118_stragglers * Makings of a deadly brown cloud: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090122_brownclouds * Evidence of ancient chemical warfare reported: http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090116_chemical World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.15/1923 - Release Date: 1/29/2009 7:13 AM
[scifinoir2] It's snowing on Mars......article from Guardian.co.uk
ahar...@earthlink.net It's snowing on Mars..article from Guardian.co.uk Wonderful stuff! Fascinating article about Mars. It is snowing in the upper atmosphere of Mars. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/27/mars-snow-space-technology-nasa I have been fascinated about Mars since reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs John Carter of Mars books as a young teenager and of course Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles and many other books and stories about the mysterious Red Planet.
Re: [scifinoir2] Re: I, Too, Sing America
ahar...@earthlink.net You guys are all making really important points. Thanks! Peace, Amy Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: I, Too, Sing America I can only speak for myself but I was struck by the sea of American flags waving in unison for a number of reasons. I stopped reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in the third grade, the same year my sister and I became the only children of African-American descent at the public grade school my mother somehow had managed to enroll us in. The city of Milwaukee had something called intact busing where they would take an entire class of black children from an overcrowded inner city school and bus them intact to a white school where they would have no contact with the white student body. They would arrive after the white students were in class and be ushered to a classroom in the basement - then they would be escorted out of their basement classroom and back to their bus before the white children were excused for the day. I would watch this daily spectacle from the window of my second floor classroom. Henceforth, I would choke on the words with liberty and justice for all. Couldn't say it. Refused to say it. When George Foreman waved a tiny American flag when he won the gold medal, I thought, sellout. I was glad when Muhammad Ali knocked him out. In the movie Rocky, when Apollo Creed came dancing into the ring wearing his red, white and blue trunks and his Uncle Sam hat, I thought, you punk. When they play the national anthem at sporting events I attend, I never stand and I never remove my hat. Last night, when I went to see the Milwaukee Bucks annihilate the Dallas Mavericks (133-99), I didn't put my hand over my heart or remove my hat but I did stand in silence. In respect. In acknowledgement. ~rave! --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, keithbjohn...@... wrote: Well said. One slight correction though: it wasn't for the first time we were proud to be Americans; it was the first time we were *really* proud to be Americans. There's a difference. I think blacks have always loved this country, always been proud to be American, but been saddened and upset by how it's fallen short of its promises. It's like having a child that you love, that has so much potential, but hasn't yet found his or her course in life. I've even heard parents say, I've always loved my son, always been proud of him, but i'm really really proud of him for the first time. Frankly, by dint of volunteering for the military, by playing by the rules, by raising our kids to worship a God and support a country into which we were frankly dragged in chains, I think black Americans can be said to have shown more genuine patriotism, more faith in this country, than any other group. (Except perhaps Natives). I hope more people get that message, but there are always the doubters: witness Rush Limbaugh's I hope Obama fails rant. Sigh... Again, well said. -- Original message -- From: ravenadal ravena...@... I, Too, Sing America In the tapestry that was the throng blanketing the public concourse stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the portico where President Barack Hussein Obama took the oath of office, I was struck by a strange and incongruous sight: a sea of black people waving tiny American flags. What bizarro world was this? Black people waving American flags? Get the flux out of here! And yet, there they were, waving their red, white and blue flags proudly, enthusiastically and full of the vigor of having obtained their full statehood rights. First Lady Michelle Obama was vilified for voicing an opinion similar to what these people were so obviously demonstrating: for the first time in their adult lives, they were proud to be Americans. ~rave! Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.12/1909 - Release Date: 1/22/2009 7:08 AM
[scifinoir2] Fw: Imaro 3
ahar...@earthlink.net Subject: Imaro 3 Terrific heroic fantasy set in a parallel universe pre-colonial Africa, 3rd in the IMARO series, revised and expanded, is AVALAIBLE NOW! Go and enjoy! Cheers! Hello, Amy ... Just dropping you a note to let you know that the third Imaro novel is finally out. Imaro: The Trail of Bohu is available from www.lulu.com. After the debacle of 2007, when Night Shade pulled the plug, this feels really good. I'm hoping to have all the rest of the Imaro novels out this year. Optimistically, Charles Now with a new friend-happy design! Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.8/1899 - Release Date: 1/17/2009 5:50 PM
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: How 'puppydog eyes' do their trick
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. * How puppydog eyes do their trick: it's chemistry A so-called trust hormone may promote bonding between members of different species, as well as within a species, researchers say. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090113_dog-gaze.htm * Black holes came first, astronomers conclude: Scientists may have solved a cosmic chicken-and-egg problem. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090106_blackholes * Enforcer of conformity: our own brains Although a grammatically challenged advertisement exhorts us to think different, group opinion affects us powerfully. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090113_conformity * Through DNA, breathing new life into museum pieces: From marsupials to manuscripts, researchers are dusting off old specimens to learn their secrets using genetics. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090112_museomics * Climate-induced food crisis seen by 2100: Barring drastic action, global warming could cripple agriculture in hotter areas of the globe, a study predicts. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090107_climate * Our galaxy no longer little sister: Fasten your seat belts: our galaxy spins faster, weighs more, and is more likely to collide than we thought, researchers claim. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090106_milkyway World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.7/1894 - Release Date: 1/14/2009 7:27 PM
Re: [scifinoir2] Ricardo Montalban dies at 88
ahar...@earthlink.net I was very fond of him. He had an amazing career. Subject: [scifinoir2] Ricardo Montalban dies at 88 He tasks me! He tasks me! And I shall have him. I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares malestrom and round perdition's flames before I give him up! --Khan Ricardo Montalban dies at 88 By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in TV's Fantasy Island, died Wednesday morning at his home, a city councilman said. He was 88. Montalban's death was announced at a meeting of the city council by president Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor lived. Garcetti did not give a cause of death. The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in my Council District -- where the next generations of performers participate in plays, musicals, and concerts -- stands as a fitting tribute to this consummate performer, Garcetti said later in a written statement. Montalban had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to Hollywood in 1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther Williams in Fiesta. He also starred with the swimming beauty in On an Island with You and Neptune's Daughter. A later generation knew Montalban as the faintly mysterious, white- suited Mr. Roarke, who presided over an island resort where visitors were able to fulfill their lifelong dreams. Fantasy Island received high ratings for most of its 1978-1984 span on ABC television and still appears in reruns. In a 1978 interview, he analyzed the series' success: What is appealing is the idea of attaining the unattainable and learning from it. Once you obtain a fantasy it becomes a reality, and that reality is not as exciting as your fantasy. Through the fantasies you learn to appreciate your own realities. Post your SciFiNoir Profile at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo! Groups Links No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.7/1893 - Release Date: 1/14/2009 6:59 AM
[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Materials for 'Earths' may be common in universe
ahar...@earthlink.net Interesting science stuff. * Materials for Earths may be common in universe: New findings suggest rocky planets are a normal occurrence, astronomers say. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090105_planets * Using light beams to grab molecules: Researchers say they've created a trap that can capture DNA molecules and other tiny objects. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090101_nanoscale * Competition, not climate, killed Neanderthals: study The stocky breed of early humans couldn't hold its own against more modern populations, scientists claim. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081228_neanderthal * Life grew in two, millionfold leaps, researchers report: Earth's creatures come in all sizes, yet scientists believe they all descend from the same single-celled organisms. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081226_leaps * Ancient African exodus mostly involved men, geneticists find An ancient migration out of Africa is thought to have led to most human populations outside the continent. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/081221_exodus * Still today, most will torture if ordered: study Scientists say they have replicated an experiment in which people would obediently give painful shocks to others when prompted. http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081219_milgram World Science homepage Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In Images; links to top science news from other publi- cations; and other recent World Science stories! http://www.world-science.net World Science archives To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex- citing past stories, though they won't appear in future newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that year after the homepage address: for example, http://www.world-science.net/2007 Invite friends to join World Science! Click here to open an invitation email you can send friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub- scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to change the email text (although you might want to leave the subscription instructions unchanged.) More information This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your subscription, please reply to this email address with cancel in the subject line. To subscribe, write to this email address with subscribe in the subject line. To change the address where you receive the newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and cancel the old one. Any World Science article may be reproduced on another website, on condition that it is reproduced along with a link to the World Science homepage, http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of the original article is optional. No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com Version: 8.0.176 / Virus Database: 270.10.2/1876 - Release Date: 1/5/2009 9:44 AM
[scifinoir2] Study links mammoth extinction, comets
ahar...@earthlink.net Really fascinating! Study links mammoth extinction, comets URL to an interesting article in USAToday _http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-01-01-mammothimpact_N.htm_ (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-01-01-mammothimpact_N.htm) This reinforces how vulnerable we are. (I sure mis those Irish elk and cave bears.) First few paragraphs By _Dan Vergano_ (http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=133) , USA TODAY A swarm of comets that smacked North America 12,900 years ago wiped out the wooly mammoth and early Native American cultures, according to a soil study released Thursday. The report in the journal Science focuses on tiny nanodiamonds, crystals tied to past comet impacts, at six sites across the continent in a soil layer dated to the start of a 1,300-year-long ice age. Geologists and archaeologists have long argued about what caused the extinction of dozens of large North American megafauna species, such as saber-toothed cats and mammoths. What we're reporting is consistent with a major cosmic impact that had major consequences for the environment and Earth's climate, says study leader Douglas Kennett of the University of Oregon in Eugene. A swarm of comets or carbon-rich meteorites either delivered or created the nanodiamonds in a fiery impact, the study suggests. The report relies on photomicrograph analyses of soil samples from Arizona, Minnesota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and two Canadian sites. Photomicrography captures images seen through a microscope. This is the 'smoking gun' evidence for a massive impact event 12,900 years ago that triggered the (ice age) and the extinction of the megafauna, says nuclear scientist Richard Firestone of the Lawrence Berkeley (Calif.) National Laboratory, who was not part of the study. If true, the impact date coincides with the abrupt halting of deposits of Clovis Native American artifacts, distinctively fluted tools and arrowheads. Dozens of large animal species vanished then in North America. Kennett and other impact researchers have suggested a continent-wide wildfire may have contributed to the extinction of large North American creatures. In Europe, there were disruptions to the prehistoric culture and the demise there of species such as the cave bear and Irish elk.
