[scifinoir2] Saturn moon delights and baffles

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Wow space stuff.  Would make a neat setting for an SF story.

  Saturn moon delights and baffles  
By Jonathan Amos 
BBC News science reporter  


   
The tiger stripes mark the southern polar region of Enceladus 
(Nasa/JPL/SSI)


More details
   
  Space scientists say their discoveries about Saturn's moon Enceladus are 
stunning, if just a little baffling. 

  Using the instrument-packed Cassini probe, they have confirmed that the 
500km-wide world has an atmosphere. 

  They have also seen a "hotspot" at the icy moon's south pole, which is 
riven with cracks dubbed "tiger stripes". 

  But the US and European scientists told a London meeting they could not 
yet explain fully the energetic processes driving all the activity on 
Enceladus. 

  "There were signs from a long time ago that Enceladus was a strange 
moon," said Dr Carolyn Porco, leader of Cassini's imaging team, "but it is just 
so gratifying and fabulous to see all the results come together and clearly 
point to a specific region on the surface which seems to be the origin of a lot 
of that peculiarity." 

  'Strange' world 

  The moon has become a major target of interest since the Cassini mission 
to the Saturn system arrived just over a year ago. 

  Enceladus orbits the ringed planet at a distance of approximately 
237,400km and is described as the most reflective object in the Solar System; 
its icy surface throws back about 90% of the sunlight that hits it. 

It would be like flying past the Earth and finding that Antarctica 
was warmer than equatorial regions - that strange 

Dr John Spencer, Southwest Research Institute 
  The spacecraft made a special low pass of the moon on 14 July, crossing a 
mere 173km above the surface at its closest approach. 

  This allowed Cassini to make observations of unprecedented detail; and 
they backed up data obtained by the probe's magnetometer instrument on previous 
flybys that hinted at the presence of a water vapour atmosphere. 

  But that was just the start of what is now proving to be a fascinating 
and evolving story. 

  "We confirmed the signature that there was an atmosphere but it is a 
strange atmosphere," Professor Michele Dougherty, from the UK's Imperial 
College and the lead scientist for the magnetometer instrument, told BBC News. 

  "It seems to be concentrated at the south pole and the best way to match 
our observations is that you have almost a cometary jet coming off the south 
pole." 

  'Hard to understand' 

  High-resolution imagery shows the southern polar region to be relatively 
smooth - usually a good indicator of recent activity - but cut by a number of 
long, dominant cracks. These are the so-called tiger stripes. 

  They are about 130km long and roughly parallel to one another, spaced 
about 40km apart. 

  Cassini's composite infrared spectrometer shows the region to be much 
warmer than expected. 

 
Heat is concentrated at the south pole 
  Whereas temperatures near the equator are a frigid 80 Kelvin (minus 
193C), the south polar average reaches 85K (minus 188C). Small areas of the 
pole, concentrated near the tiger stripe fractures, are even warmer: well over 
110K (minus 163C) in some places. 

  "The amount of heat there is really hard to understand as being due to 
just sunlight warming the surface," said Dr John Spencer, from the Southwest 
Research Institute in Colorado, US. 

  "It shouldn't be that warm at the pole. It would be like flying past the 
Earth and finding that Antarctica was warmer than equatorial regions - that 
strange. 

  "This is only the second place in the Solar System beyond Earth that 
we've seen signs of heat coming out of the interior - the other being Jupiter's 
moon Io." 

  The scientists think the cracks may act like vents, spewing out water 
vapour and very fine water-ice particles. Some have suggested there could be 
ice geysers and even ice volcanoes at the stripe locations - but these have not 
been imaged directly. 

  Interest index 

  The puzzle for researchers is how to explain such an energetic system on 
Enceladus. 

  As the moon moves around an eccentric orbit of Saturn, gravitational 
forces should subject the tiny world to some tidal heating. Radioactive 
isotopes in its rocky core may also be a source of some warming. 

  But scientists are struggling to make the numbers add up and are frankly 
baffled as to why the activity they see should be so concentrated in just the 
one region. 

 
Cassini could detect very simple organics at the tiger stripes 
  "One of the most fascinating aspects of Enceladus is that it's so very 
small as icy moons go, but so very geophysically active," said Dr Bob Brown, 
from the University of Arizona, US, and team lea

[scifinoir2] Fw: Rebuilding plan paving way for conservative goals

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

This is mind-bogglingly grotesque.  Corporatist greed run rampant - adding the 
worst kind of insult to injury!  How typically Bushite!   


Rebuilding plan paving way for conservative goals
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/09/25/rebuilding_plan_paving
_way_for_conservative_goals/
By Rick Klein, Globe Staff  |  September 25, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers in Congress have tried repeatedly in
recent years to allow children to use federally funded vouchers to attend
private schools. They have been defeated seven times since 1998.

At least nine times in the past decade, Republicans sought to repeal or
undermine a Depression-era law that requires federal contractors to pay the
''prevailing wage" in the region they are working in. None of the efforts
succeeded.

But now the GOP is poised to realize both of those goals. President Bush's
reconstruction package for the Gulf Coast region devastated by Hurricane
Katrina includes nearly $500 million for vouchers that children can use at
private schools anywhere in the nation. And Bush declared a ''national
emergency" to waive the prevailing wage law during the cleanup, freeing
contractors to pay construction workers as little as the minimum wage,
rather than the $8 to $10 prevailing wages in Louisiana, Alabama, and
Mississippi.

As the federal government's response to Katrina takes shape, the White House
and Congress are enacting or seeking to pass a wide range of policies that
have been consistently rejected by Congress, despite Republican majorities
in the House and Senate. The Bush administration has lifted the requirement
that contractors have affirmative-action plans, is seeking to weaken
clean-air standards in the Gulf region, and has shelved rules governing the
number of hours truckers can work. Republicans in Congress have proposed
allowing the EPA to waive all environmental regulations during the
rebuilding.

Republicans say the moves are intended to help the region rebuild as fast as
possible. Moreover, with as much as $200 billion headed to the states hit by
Katrina, the White House and Congress want to be sure that the money is
spent in accordance with conservative principles, emphasizing the free
market and the strength of the private sector, said Senator Rick Santorum of
Pennsylvania, the Senate's third-ranking Republican.

''The conditions that people were living in I would argue were a result of
liberal policies," Santorum said. ''And now we've got some alternative
ideas -- give us an opportunity to try to positively impact the lives of the
poor in these communities. . . . Let's try something different that may
work, because what has been tried in the past hasn't worked."

But Democrats contend that Republicans are using a national tragedy to slip
in proposals they have not been able to achieve through the legislative
process during normal times.

''They couldn't do these things under normal circumstances," said
Representative George Miller, Democrat of California, the ranking Democrat
on the education and workforce committee. ''The hurricane presents them an
option to do this, under the guise of emergency. They say all of these
things are suddenly necessary."

Added Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Newton: ''They're putting
ideology ahead of everything else."

The rebuilding plan outlined by the White House -- a package that GOP
leaders in Congress want to push through quickly -- includes conservative
economic proposals that fit with Bush's vision of an ''ownership society,"
Republican leaders said.

The president is calling for tax breaks to promote redevelopment and create
jobs in a ''Gulf Opportunity Zone." He wants to give free federal land to
those who commit to building houses, to encourage homeownership. He is
proposing personal worker retraining accounts that hurricane victims could
use to start new careers. Republicans want to pay for at least a portion of
the cleanup costs by cutting social programs such as Medicaid, the
healthcare program for the poor. Citing the need to award rebuilding
contracts as fast as possible, the Bush administration has laid aside for
three months the requirement that federal contractors have written
affirmative-action plans. Affirmative action has been a frequent target of
conservative lawmakers, though attempts to ban its use in contracting have
consistently fallen short in Congress.

On the environmental front, Senator James M. Inhofe, an Oklahoma Republican
who is chairman of the environment and public works committee, has proposed
allowing the Environmental Protection Agency to waive or modify any
environmental requirements during hurricane rebuilding. Last week, House
Democrats obtained draft legislation being crafted by the Bush
administration that would permanently empower the EPA to waive any
regulation in the Clean Air Act whenever the agency finds that ''emergency
conditions" exist.

Many Republicans have sought for years to water down or repeal the 

[scifinoir2] Arnold for sale: check out the bids

[Amy Harlib]

Dear Friend,

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of the State of California,
might as well be up for auction - with drug companies doing the
bidding. Check out Arnold's auction profile and the list of
bidders at:
http://ga1.org/stop_arnold/auction1.html

Then, sign the California Nurses petition that says you won't
stomach corporate greed influencing health care. Visit:
http://ga1.org/stop_arnold/stoparnold.html

Follow this link to sign up: 
http://ga1.org/stop_arnold/join.html?rk=_7wchP9aYtKb

***
Powered by GetActive Software, Inc.
The Leader in Online Campaigns
http://www.getactive.com
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[scifinoir2] Fw: [TD] Tomgram: Davis, 25 Questions about the Murder of New Orleans

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]



 
a project of the Nation Institute 


To send this to a friend, or to read more dispatches, go to tomdispatch.com

Tomgram: Davis, 25 Questions about the Murder of New Orleans
Mike Davis (whose most recent book is Monster at our Door, The Global Threat of 
Avian Flu) and architect Anthony Fontenot have just returned from New Orleans. 
They rode out Rita in southern Louisiana and talked with numerous people 
involved in local Katrina rescue efforts. The city is now, Davis says, a huge 
crime scene that may never be properly investigated. After Hurricane Ivan 
turned away from the Big Easy in 2004, Davis wrote a singularly prophetic 
piece, Poor, Black and Left Behind, about the car-less, unevacuated poor of 
that city. The arrival of Hurricane Katrina, which did not spare New Orleans, 
essentially proved for the poor a horrifying replay of the previous year. 
Nothing had changed for the better. The main question Davis and Fontenot raise 
below -- for an investigative body that may never exist -- is just how 
deliberate, from top to bottom, the neglect of the obvious was in New Orleans. 

Right now, we're watching the ridiculous spectacle of the woefully incompetent 
former FEMA head Michael Brown being thrown to the Republican wolves in the 
House of Representatives, while the two national figures most in charge of the 
Katrina debacle, Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff and 
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, remain remarkably untouched by their 
acts. The man who couldn't wait to invade Iraq couldn't figure out how to get a 
soldier into New Orleans. It's a sorry record. Here, then, are some of the 
disturbing questions on the minds of those Davis and Fontenot met in New 
Orleans -- questions from the frontlines of an American shock-and-awe disaster 
of epic proportions. Tom 


  The Mysteries of New Orleans
  Twenty-five Questions about the Murder of the Big Easy
  By Mike Davis and Anthony Fontenot 

  We recently spent a week in New Orleans and Southern Louisiana interviewing 
relief workers, community activists, urban planners, artists, and neighborhood 
folks. Even as the latest flood waters from Hurricane Rita recede, the city 
remains submerged in anger and frustration. 

  Indeed, the most toxic debris in New Orleans isn't the sinister gray sludge 
that coats the streets of the historic Creole neighborhood of Treme or the 
Lower Ninth Ward, but all the unanswered questions that have accumulated in the 
wake of so much official betrayal and hypocrisy. Where outsiders see simple 
"incompetence" or "failure of leadership," locals are more inclined to discern 
deliberate design and planned neglect -- the murder, not the accidental death, 
of a great city. 

  In almost random order, here are twenty-five of the urgent questions that 
deeply trouble the local people we spoke with. Until a grand jury or 
congressional committee begins to uncover the answers, the moral (as opposed to 
simply physical) reconstruction of the New Orleans region will remain 
impossible. 

  1. Why did the floodwalls along the 17th Street Canal only break on the New 
Orleans (majority Black) side and not on the Metairie (largely white) side? Was 
this the result of neglect and poor maintenance by New Orleans authorities?

  Click here to read more of this dispatch.

  ---
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[scifinoir2] August Wilson, Playwright, Dies at 60

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
We all knew it was coming.  
One of our greatest artists has passed - too young and too soon but leaving a 
monumental theatrical legacy.
HE WILL BE MISSED!
Amy 




October 2, 2005
August Wilson, Playwright, Dies at 60 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 6:46 p.m. ET

NEW YORK (AP) -- Playwright August Wilson, whose epic 10-play cycle chronicling 
the black experience in 20th-century America included such landmark dramas as 
''Fences'' and ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,'' died Sunday of liver cancer, a 
family spokeswoman said. He was 60.

Wilson died at Swedish Hospital in Seattle, surrounded by his family, said Dena 
Levitin, Wilson's personal assistant. The playwright had disclosed in late 
August that his illness was inoperable and he had only a few months to live.

His plays were big, often sprawling and poetic, dealing primarily with the 
effects of slavery on succeeding generations of black Americans: from 
turn-of-century characters who could remember the Civil War to a prosperous 
middle class at the end of the century who had forgotten the past.

Wilson's astonishing creation, which took more than 20 years to complete, was 
remarkable not only for his commitment to a certain structure -- one play for 
each decade -- but for the quality of the writing. It was a unique achievement 
in American drama. Not even Eugene O'Neill, who authored the masterpiece ''Long 
Day's Journey Into Night,'' accomplished such a monumental effort.

During that time, Wilson received the best-play Tony Award for ''Fences,'' plus 
best-play Tony nominations for six of his other plays, the Pulitzer Prize for 
both ''Fences'' and ''The Piano Lesson,'' and a record seven New York Drama 
Critics' Circle prizes.

''The goal was to get them down on paper,'' he told The Associated Press during 
an April 2005 interview as he was completing ''Radio Golf,'' the last play in 
the cycle. ''It was fortunate when I looked up and found I had the two bookends 
to go. I didn't plan it that way. I was able to connect the two plays.''

Wilson was referring to ''Gem of the Ocean,'' chronologically the first play in 
the cycle, although the ninth to be written. It takes place in 1904 and is set 
in Pittsburgh's Hill District at 1839 Wylie Ave., a specific address that 
figures prominently, nearly 100 years later, in the last work, ''Radio Golf,'' 
which premiered in April at the Yale Repertory Theatre.

Pittsburgh, Wilson's birthplace, is the setting for nine of the 10 plays in the 
cycle (''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'' is set in a Chicago recording studio). 
Although he lived in Seattle, the playwright had a great deal of affection for 
his hometown, especially ''the Hill,'' a dilapidated area of the city where he 
spent much of his youth.

Wilson, a bulky, affable man who always had a story to tell, usually returned 
to Pittsburgh once a year to visit his mother's grave, but he said he couldn't 
live there: ''Too many ghosts. But I love it. That's what gave birth to me.''

Born Frederick August Kittel on April 27, 1945, he was one of six children of 
Frederick Kittel, a baker who had emigrated from Germany at the age of 10, and 
Daisy Wilson. A high school dropout, Wilson enlisted in the Army but left after 
a year, finding employment as a porter, short-order cook and dishwasher, among 
other jobs. When his father died in 1965, he changed his name to August Wilson.

Wilson was largely self-educated. The public library was his university and the 
recordings of such iconic singers and musicians as Bessie Smith and Jelly Roll 
Morton, and the paintings of such artists as Romare Bearden his inspiration.

He started writing in 1965, when he acquired a used typewriter. His initial 
works were poems, but in 1968, Wilson co-founded Pittsburgh's Black Horizon 
Theater. Among those early efforts was a play called ''Jitney,'' which he 
revised more than two decades later as part of his 10-play cycle.

In 1978, he moved to Minnesota, writing for the Science Museum in St. Paul and 
later landing a fellowship at the Minneapolis Playwrights Center.

In 1982, his play, ''Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,'' was accepted by the National 
Playwrights Conference at the O'Neill Theater Center in Connecticut. It was 
there that Wilson met Lloyd Richards, who also ran the Yale School of Drama. 
Their relationship proved fruitful, and Richards directed six of Wilson's plays 
on Broadway.

The first was ''Ma Rainey,'' which opened on Broadway in 1984. Wilson's 
reputation was cemented in 1987 by the father-son drama ''Fences,'' his biggest 
commercial success. The play, which featured a Tony-winning performance by 
James Earl Jones, ran for more than a year.

It was followed in New York by ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' (1988), ''The 
Piano Lesson'' (1990), ''Two Trains Running'' (1992), ''Seven Guitars'' (1996), 
''Jitney'' (2000), ''King Hedley II'' (2001) and ''Gem of the Ocean'

[scifinoir2] Heinlein's Female Troubles

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Great essay.   Expesses very closely my own feelings about this famous SF icon.





October 2, 2005
Heinlein's Female Troubles 
By M. G. LORD
Preparations are underway for a huge celebration to commemorate the centennial 
of Robert A. Heinlein, the legendary science-fiction author who in 1975 was 
named the first ever Grand Master by the Science Fiction Writers of America. 
The celebration, set for July 7, 2007, Heinlein's birthday, will consist of 
three separate sections: one for fans, one for academics and a third for a 
group not usually associated with fiction, genre or otherwise - aerospace 
professionals. But Heinlein holds a unique place in this world; many scientists 
and engineers who built the first United States spacecraft (as well as today's 
space-tourism entrepreneurs) cite his novels as their inspiration. Larry Niven, 
a sci-fi writer, spoofs this in "The Return of William Proxmire," a time-travel 
yarn written in 1988. In Niven's tale, Senator Proxmire, a notorious critic of 
the American space program, journeys back to the 1930's, carrying present-day 
antibiotics. Proxmire aims to cure Heinlein of the tuberculosis that ended his 
Navy career and inaugurated his literary one. If Heinlein never writes a story, 
Proxmire reasons, the money-wasting space program can be scrubbed before it 
launches.

Although the Navy did indeed discharge Heinlein, Heinlein never quite 
discharged the Navy. His nostalgia for military values emerged most memorably 
in "Starship Troopers" (1959), a young-adult novel whose glamorization of 
combat caused some critics to view him as a fascist. Among the critics was 
Scribner, his longtime publisher, which refused to issue the novel. Heinlein 
has also been attacked for being a misogynist - in large part for his 1982 
novel, "Friday," whose eponymous woman narrator enjoys being raped.

The Heinlein at the center of these storms, however, was a far cry from the 
Heinlein whose work I loved in elementary school. I credit this Heinlein with 
making me a feminist, never mind that "feminist" didn't enter my vocabulary 
until at least junior high. 

At 8, when I first read "Starship Troopers," its controversial aspects went 
right over my head. I did, however, notice something remarkable in it - 
something that moved and inspired me. Something that, given the values in my 
arch-Republican, Roman Catholic aerospace family, seemed as preposterous as 
time travel: Heinlein's portrayal of women. Unlike the female characters in 
other science fiction of the time, such as the stories of Arthur C. Clarke, 
Heinlein's women were not invisible or grossly subservient to men. Nor were 
they less technologically competent. The hero of "Starship Troopers" follows a 
woman he admires into the military. But because she is sharper than he, she 
gains admission to the prestigious pilot corps, and he winds up stuck in the 
infantry.

"Have Spacesuit - Will Travel" (1958), another of his young-adult novels, 
sealed my feminist conversion. It featured Peewee, an 11-year-old girl who was 
smarter and braver than Kip, its 18-year-old male central character. It also 
featured a creature called "The Mother Thing," a fuzzy, portable being of 
indeterminate gender that provided the cuddling and support associated with 
mothering. The Mother Thing blew me away. Heinlein advanced the thought that 
motherhood was a job, not a biological destiny, and men could nurture, too. 

Heinlein also created terrific women role models in his early short stories. 
They included G. B. McNye, a radio engineer who coeducates an all-male space 
station in "Delilah and the Space Rigger," and M. L. Martin, a world-famous 
scientist in "Let There Be Light." Often these women used their initials 
instead of their full names - Gloria Brooks and Mary Lou for instance - a 
practice that, on the eve of fourth grade, inspired me to abridge Mary Grace to 
M. G. 

When college-age women tell me they cannot imagine a world in which 
opportunities for women were so openly curtailed, I suggest they screen some 
cold-war-era classroom films, as I recently did. Among these films is the 
emblematic "Why Study Science?" (1955), in which a boy announces he plans to 
study science so he can "go to the moon," but his sister doesn't have to 
because her mission is to "hook some guy." "What's wrong with that?" his sister 
asks. The idea that you don't need science to prepare nutritious meals! their 
mother counters. Or to teach your toddler how the telephone works. Heinlein 
managed to ridicule such sexism without alienating his core audience of 
engineering-minded boys. In "Tunnel in the Sky" (1955), a young-adult novel, 
Heinlein describes a 10-day wilderness survival trip that goes awry, stranding 
a group of high school students on a hostile planet. Rod, the book's central 
character, believes that teaming with a girl will hurt him, s

[scifinoir2] One Legend Found, Many Still to Go

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Fascinating and fun.



October 2, 2005
One Legend Found, Many Still to Go 
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
THE human instinct to observe nature has always been mixed with a tendency to 
embroider upon it. So it is that, over the ages, societies have lived alongside 
not only real animals, but a shadow bestiary of fantastic ones - mermaids, 
griffins, unicorns and the like. None loomed larger than the giant squid, the 
kraken, a great, malevolent devil of the deep. "One of these Sea-Monsters," 
Olaus Magnus wrote in 1555, "will drown easily many great ships."

Science, of course, is in the business of shattering myths with facts, which it 
did again last week when Japanese scientists reported that they hooked a giant 
squid - a relatively small one estimated at 26 feet long - some 3,000 feet down 
and photographed it before it tore off a tentacle to escape. It was the first 
peek humanity has ever had of such animals in their native habitat. Almost 
inevitably, the creature seemed far less terrifying than its ancient image. 

Scientists celebrated the find not as an end, but as the beginning of a new 
chapter in understanding the shy creature. "There're always more questions, 
more parts to the mystery than we'll ever be able to solve," said Clyde F. E. 
Roper, a squid expert at the National Museum of Natural History of the 
Smithsonian Institution.

Monster lovers take heart. Scientists argue that so much of the planet remains 
unexplored that new surprises are sure to show up; if not legendary beasts like 
the Loch Ness monster or the dinosaur-like reptile said to inhabit Lake 
Champlain, then animals that in their own way may be even stranger. 

A forthcoming book by the noted naturalist Richard Ellis, "Singing Whales, 
Flying Squid and Swimming Cucumbers" (Lyon Press, 2006), reinforces that notion 
by cataloguing recent discoveries of previously unknown whales, dolphins and 
other creatures, some of which are quite bizarre. 

"The sea being so deep and so large, I'm sure other mysteries lurk out there, 
unseen and unsolved," said Mr. Ellis, also the author of "Monsters of the Sea" 
(Knopf, 1994). Explorers, he said, recently stumbled on an odd squid more than 
20 feet long with fins like elephant ears and very skinny arms and tentacles, 
all of which can bend at right angles, like human elbows. "We know nothing 
about it," Mr. Ellis said. "But we've seen it."

Historically, many unknown creatures have come to light purely by accident. In 
1938, for example, a fisherman pulled up an odd, ancient-looking fish with 
stubby, limblike fins. It turned out to be a coelacanth, a beast thought to 
have gone extinct 70 million years ago. Since then, other examples of the 
species have occasionally been hauled out of the sea. 

Land, too, occasionally gives up a secret. About 1900, acting on tips from the 
local population, Sir Harry H. Johnston, an English explorer, hunted through 
the forests of Zaire (then the Belgian Congo) and found a giraffe-like animal 
known as the okapi. It was hailed as a living fossil.

In 1982, a group of animal enthusiasts founded the International Society of 
Cryptozoology (literally, the study of hidden creatures) and adopted the okapi 
as its symbol. Today, self-described cryptozoologists range from amateur 
unicorn hunters to distinguished scientists.

At the Web site for the group, www.internationalsocietyofcryptozoology.org, 
there is a list of 15 classes of unresolved claims about unusual beasts, 
including big cats, giant crocodiles, huge snakes, large octopuses, mammoths, 
biped primates like the yeti in the Himalayas and long-necked creatures 
resembling the gigantic dinosaurs called sauropods.

Lake Champlain, on the border between Vermont and New York, is notorious as the 
alleged home of Champ, a beast said to be similar to a plesiosaur, an extinct 
marine reptile with a small head, long neck and four paddle-shaped flippers.

There, as at Loch Ness and elsewhere, myth busters and believers do constant 
battle. "Not only is there not a single piece of convincing evidence for 
Champ's existence, but there are many reasons against it," Joe Nickel, a 
researcher who investigates claims of paranormal phenomena, argued in Skeptical 
Inquirer, a monthly magazine that rebuts what it considers to be scientific 
hokum.

Then there are the blobs. For more than a century, scientists and laymen 
imagined that the mysterious gooey masses - some as large as a school bus - 
that wash ashore on beaches around the world came from great creatures with 
tentacles long enough to sink cruise ships. Warnings were issued. Perhaps, 
cryptozoologists speculated, the blobs were the remains of recently deceased 
living fossils more fearsome than the dinosaurs, or perhaps an entirely new sea 
creature unknown to science.

Then last year, a team of biologists based at the University of South Florida 
applied DNA a

[scifinoir2] Fw: Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subject: Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina


> amazing LILSF!*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Life Is Like Science Fiction.
> 

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Re: [scifinoir2] Scientists Capture Giant Squid in Photos

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  You can see the video at the BBC web site - way cool!
  Amy
  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4288772.stm


  Man, would it be creepy running into an 8-meter long squid or what?

  Scientists Capture Giant Squid in Photos 


  By HIROKO TABUCHI 
  Associated Press Writer

  TOKYO - The giant squid can be found in books and in myths, but for the
  first time, a team of Japanese scientists has captured on film one of
  the most mysterious creatures of the deep sea in its natural habitat.

  The team led by Tsunemi Kubodera, from the National Science Museum in
  Tokyo, tracked the 26-foot long Architeuthis as it attacked prey nearly
  3,000 feet deep off the coast of Japan's Bonin islands.

  "We believe this is the first time a grown giant squid has been captured
  on camera in its natural habitat," said Kyoichi Mori, a marine
  researcher who co-authored a piece in Wednesday's issue of the
  Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

  The camera was operated by remote control during research at the end of
  October 2004, Mori told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

  Mori said the giant squid, purplish red like its smaller brethren,
  attacked its quarry aggressively, calling into question the image of the
  animal as lethargic and slow moving.

  "Contrary to belief that the giant squid is relatively inactive, the
  squid we captured on film actively used its enormous tentacles to go
  after prey," Mori said.

  "It went after some bait that we had on the end of the camera and became
  stuck, and left behind a tentacle" about six yards long, Mori said.

  Kubodera, also reached by the AP, said researchers ran DNA tests on the
  tentacle and found it matched those of other giant squids found around
  Japan.

  "But other sightings were of smaller, or very injured squids washed
  toward the shore - or of parts of a giant squid," Kubodera said. "This
  is the first time a full-grown, healthy squid has been sighted in its
  natural environment in deep water."

  Kubodera said the giant squid's tentacle would not grow back, but the
  squid's life was not in danger.

  Jim Barry, a marine biologist at Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
  Institute in California, has searched for giant squid on his own
  expeditions without luck.

  "It's the holy grail of deep sea animals," he said. "It's one that we
  have never seen alive, and now someone has video of one."

  New Zealand's leading authority on the giant squid, marine biologist
  Steve O'Shea, praised the Japanese team's feat.

  "Through sheer ... determination the guy has gone on and done it," said
  O'Shea, chief marine scientist at the Auckland University of Technology,
  who is not linked to the Japanese research.

  O'Shea said he hopes to capture juvenile giant squid and grow them in
  captivity. He captured 17 of them five years ago but they died in
  captivity.

  "Our reaction is one of tremendous relief that the so-called ... race
  (to film the giant squid) is over ... because the animal has consumed
  the last eight or nine years of my life," O'Shea said of the film.

  Giant squid have long attracted human fascination, appearing in myths of
  the ancient Greeks, as well as Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the
  Sea." Scientific interest in the animals has surged in recent years as
  more specimens have been caught in commercial fishing nets or found
  washed up on shores.

  Kubodera would make no claims about the scientific significance of his
  team's work.

  "As for the impact our discovery will have on marine research, I'll
  leave to other researchers to decide," he said.

  Other biologists saidi they expected the video would provide insight on
  the animal's behavior underwater.

  "Nobody has been able to observe a large giant squid where it lives,"
  said Randy Kochevar, a deep sea biologist also with the Monterey
  aquarium. "There are people who said it would never be done."


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Chavez - The world cannot tolerate this model of development called the American way of life.

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Chavez and George Galloway are two of the best world figures in politics today!

 Chavez - The world cannot tolerate this model of development called the 
American way of life.


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez took President Bush to task in front of a
global summit for waging war in Iraq without U.N. consent and won rousing
applause for his critique.

The leftist leader told a U.N. summit on Thursday that fighting the war
without U.N. authorization showed Washington did not respect the world body.
He recommended moving U.N. headquarters to a country that has more regard
for the organization.

"There were never weapons of mass destruction but Iraq was bombed, and over
U.N. objections, (it was) occupied and continues being occupied," Chavez
said. Bush alleged that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction but none
have been found, shattering one of his main arguments for going to war.

"That's why we propose to this assembly that the United Nations leave this
country, which is not respectful of the very resolutions of this assembly,"
Chavez said.

Chavez, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, suggested moving U.N.
headquarters New York to an international city "outside the sovereignty of
any state" and said some have mentioned Jerusalem as one possibility.

But the Venezuelan leader said the new headquarters has to be in the South,
home to most developing countries.

Bush was not in the audience when Chavez spoke to the world representatives.
But the U.S. president did address the summit's the opening session on
Wednesday morning, then returned to Washington later that day.

World leaders at the summit had been asked to speak for five minutes but
Chavez ran long and when the presiding diplomat passed him a note saying his
time was up, he threw it on the floor. He said if Bush could speak for 20
minutes, so could he.

When he finally stopped, he got what observers said was the loudest applause
of the summit.

Relations between Chavez and Washington have become increasingly strained,
though the United States remains the top buyer of Venezuelan oil.

Chavez repeatedly has accused the U.S. government of backing plots against
him, and recently alleged Washington was preparing to invade his country.

American religious broadcaster Pat Robertson recently suggested the United
States assassinate Chavez because he poses a threat. Chavez responded that
Robertson had clearly "expressed the wish of the elite that govern the
United States." Robertson has since apologized.

U.S. officials strongly deny the Venezuelan leader's claims but have
expressed concerns about the health of the country's democracy under Chavez,
who was first elected in 1998 pledging a social "revolution" for the poor
majority.

The two leaders have clashed over a host of other issues as well.

Bush criticized Venezuela's government earlier Thursday, saying the South
American nation had "failed demonstrably" to make a concerted effort to
block shipments of illicit narcotics to the United States and Europe last
year.

Venezuela could have been subjected to a cutoff of U.S. assistance, but Bush
decided to waive the provision because of national security interests.

In early August, Chavez accused the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration of
using its agents in Venezuela for espionage, and said Venezuela was
suspending cooperation with the agency. The Bush administration denied the
espionage charge.

Chavez, whose country is the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, also warned
the world is facing an unprecedented energy crisis. 

He told reporters later the crisis will keep growing, "not because we the
producers want it but because we are running out of oil." 

Chavez singled out the United States as the most wasteful country, saying he
was shocked when a quarter of all the cars he counted Thursday morning on
New York streets had one person in them. 

"That's crazy, one person with a huge car ... that is using up gas and
polluting the atmosphere," he said at a news conference. "The world cannot
tolerate this model of development called the American way of life." 

In a form of energy diplomacy, Chavez has extended a preferential oil trade
deal called PetroCaribe to 13 Caribbean countries in what he says is part of
a plan to challenge U.S. economic domination of the region. 

Under the plan, Venezuela will soon sell up to 190,000 barrels of fuel a day
to countries from Jamaica to St. Lucia, offering favorable financing while
shipping fuel directly to reduce costs. It is expected to help those
countries save millions of dollars. 

___ 

Associated Press writer Ian James in Caracas, Venezuela, contributed to this
report
By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
Fri Sep 16, 5:20 AM ET






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[scifinoir2] Fw: What to do in a failing civilization

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
A MUST READ!   Spread this far and wide.
Terrifying and absolutely true and when are enough folks going to wake up and 
heed the warnings!?

 What to do in a failing civilization


Can global civilization adapt successfully to degradation of the biosphere
and depletion of fossil fuels?  I argue that it cannot. Important elements
of all constituent societies would have to be reformed. Reform would have to
be radical and would be uncertain of success. It could be undertaken only in
the presence of incontrovertible necessity-a necessity that will reveal
itself incontrovertibly only when catastrophic collapse has become
unavoidable. I conclude that those who seek to preserve civilization should
plan for its survival in restricted regions. 

The nature and scale of our economic behavior is reducing the capacity of
the Earth to support us in the future. The list is long: destruction of
biological diversity, over fishing, ozone holes, aquifer depletion, the
drying up of rivers and lakes, the pollution of ground water with salt and
industrial chemicals, soil degradation, desertification, fossil fuel
depletion, mineral depletion, and climate change. In spite of these trends,
we demand more from the Earth each year. The demographers say that there
will be 8 or 9 billion of us in 2050, absent intervening catastrophe, just
when some of these trends will have reached their full destructive capacity,
and all of them will be working furiously to demolish the support Earth
lends us. Can we react in time to oppose these trends effectively?


The overshoot trap


Limits to the growth of population and economic activity are sometimes
imagined to be like walls we might run into. When we get close to the walls,
this simile suggests, we can slow down to avoid a crash, or at least slow
down enough that the crash bends our fenders instead of smashing us to bits.
A better simile reveals a greater hazard. We are like a thoughtless retired
person without a pension who lives too lavishly on substantial saved
capital. We consume greatly more than the income generated by our natural
capital, consuming the capital as well as the income.  Addicted to luxury,
we increase our spending each year.

As concrete examples of natural capital and income, think of rivers, lakes,
and aquifers that should be pumped out no faster than they can be
replenished by rain and melting snow. Think of stocks of oceanic fish that
should be harvested only to an extent that does not reduce their yearly
census. Think of forests and wetlands that should be kept as reservoirs of
biological diversity and sources of clean water, instead of being clear cut
or paved. Think of soils that once had a natural vitality and generative
power, but have been rendered lifeless by their overuse to hold fertilizers
and pesticides, or by making them foundations for roads, buildings,
airports, and houses. Think of fossil fuels that might have been invested in
infrastructure for renewable energy but which have instead gone into food,
clothing, buildings, and personal transportation.

The capacity to produce sustainable income-food, energy,
materials-disappears with the natural capital that generates it. Day by day
the proportion of capital in our consumption increases. We don't see that
the income portion of our consumption is decreasing as long as we don't
distinguish between consumed income and consumed capital. At some point,
retrenching to rebuild our natural capital becomes impossible. If we were to
decide to consume only income, we would starve and there would not be any
income left over to rebuild capital. At this point we are trapped.
Bankruptcy is inevitable, but we may continue to live still more lavishly
each year as long as capital remains to be consumed. The trap is known by
ecologists as overshoot. When we finally reach the limits of natural
capital, the Earth's support for our presence will decrease suddenly to an
astonishingly low level compared to the largesse we have become used to.
This necessary consequence of overshoot is called crash, or die-off.

Ignorance of the trap hidden in the consumption of natural capital
encourages a belief that the human population of the Earth is not now
intrinsically excessive and will not become intrinsically excessive before
the occurrence of a benign demographic transition-a supposedly naturally
decreasing fertility that will stabilize the human population at, say, 8 or
9 billion.  There are two versions of this belief. In the first version, if
the rich reduce their consumption and share with the poor, all will be well
because there will then be enough to go around, and population growth will
have stopped. In the second version, if the rich cooperate to make the poor
much better off through economic development, the benign demographic
transition, which is said to be caused by prosperity, will be virtually
certain. We don't need to worry about not having enough to go around, this
version continues, because we've 

[scifinoir2] Fw: Racism and Resource Scarcity May Be Siamese Twins in a Post-Petroleum World

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Another vitally important article - painful and necessary truths that must be 
faced.

 Racism and Resource Scarcity May Be Siamese Twins in a Post-Petroleum World


Septemeber 15, 2005 0800 PST (FTW) - Back in the 1950s a black and white
film - I forget the title - posed a dilemma that will soon confront all of
mankind. It is without doubt a question that most people are totally
unwilling to face. In the wake of the sinking of a cargo ship, a group of
survivors take refuge in an overcrowded lifeboat. The dilemma, which soon
becomes apparent to the tiny ship's officer in charge, is that there are too
many people aboard the small craft and that it will sink and kill all of
them unless someone is cast overboard. This actually happened in real life
and the officer who made a decision to cast people off was subsequently
exonerated. Instead of sacrificing all lives in a politically correct
gesture, he saved some lives that would otherwise have been lost. 

What happened after Hurricane Katrina is a different story. 

In the aftermath of the storm we are seeing many ominous warnings of choices
that will come to us all sooner or later as hydrocarbon energy reserves
diminish in America and around the globe. None are easy. None are palatable.
And none are politically correct. But hard science doesn't care about being
politically correct. Below is a story of what happened when the occupants of
one lifeboat felt threatened at the prospect of taking on too many survivors
- so they took on none. I neither agree with this nor endorse it. In fact it
fills me with rage. The people of Gretna and Tarrytown, places I visited in
1977 during my heartbreaking discovery that the CIA was bringing drugs into
this country, could and should have done better as thousands of New Orleans
refuges started streaming across the Mississippi into these relatively
unscathed communities. Instead of blocking the bridge and threatening to
shoot the "unwashed" masses comprised largely of African-Americans, they had
an obligation to extend aid to whomever they could. At some point also they
would have been justified to say, "That's enough, we just can't take any
more." The fact that no attempt was made at all is what will remain forever
unforgivable about this tragic episode. 

It is a lesson for all of us. 

As I continue to lift my eyes above the immediate horizon I see choices like
this soon coming at all of us. Will it be the unwashed of Phoenix fleeing to
Scottsdale? The gay, lesbian and Democratic hordes of San Francisco fleeing
north into Marin County? The undereducated poor of Boston heading towards
Martha's Vineyard or Vermont? Or will it be millions of Manhattanites and
Washington office workers eyeing the Amish farmlands of Pennsylvania and
Ohio? 

We are all only one hot, soothing shower away from being unwashed. 

The racism of Gretna is obvious and despicable. But it is also predictable.
Psychology 101 in almost all college courses directs our attention to fruit
flies and red sturgeon. It tells how species recognize each other and form
into societies based upon visual recognition. This is neither good nor bad.
It just is and it is also ingrained in human behavior. What this story tells
us is that we must chose to act differently if we are to survive as a
species or even in a few fortunate communities. It's easy to distinguish
black, brown and yellow from white. It's also a cop out (pardon the pun).
What happened in Gretna is an archetypal model of what is coming for all of
us and a warning; a very clear warning. 

As we confront Peak Oil and Gas, and as we march headlong into a winter of
devastation for the US economy from which there will likely be no recovery,
all of us must force discussion of these issues now so that we can be
prepared when the time comes and not linger in denial until the only option
we have left is to revert to the level of the red sturgeon in panic or of
the Gretna police department - also in panic. 

Gretna also reinforces my stated position that local police agencies are
going to become uniquely important as collapse becomes evident. Scientists
like Richard Heinberg and I both see a "devolution" into feudal societies.
Feudal societies were maintained by cadres of local knights and their first
duties were to the people of their barony or fiefdom. This horrible tragedy
took place in a region where racism is about as easy to find as a freshly
shucked oyster used to be, so I am not surprised to see how it played out. I
am only heartbroken. 

My fear is how other, supposedly homogeneous communities will react. 

How will all the "have" places react when they see the unwashed "have not"
hordes approaching. At some point they will have to say we can't take any
more. At some point, they will have to defend their supply or risk hastening
a total ecological collapse. But the decisions about whom and how many to
save must be based upon some other criteria than race. Always, wherever
possible, attempt

[scifinoir2] Action Alert: Ensure Fair Wages for Hurricane Victims!

[Amy Harlib]

I am deeply troubled by the president's decision to suspend the
Davis-Bacon Act in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The
Davis-Bacon Act requires federal contractors to pay workers the
average or "prevailing" regional wage for public construction
projects. In New Orleans, that wage is just over $9 an hour. The
act's suspension allows contractors to pay as little as $5.15 an
hour - the current federal minimum wage - for these projects.

Workers who lost everything in the rising waters cannot be
expected to support their families on $5.15 an hour. As these
women and men begin to rebuild their lives and their
communities, they desperately need a just wage from their
government, not a pay cut. As a person of faith, I believe that
every person has the right to productive work and to fair
compensation for that work.

Today I wrote a letter urging my member of Congress to sign on
to legislation reinstating the wage protections enshrined in the
Davis-Bacon Act. Two hundred representatives and 30 senators
have already signed on. These numbers are encouraging, but they
are not enough. Please join me by calling on your member of
Congress to support the "Fair Wages for Hurricane Victims Act."
The people of the Gulf Coast are counting on us.

Click here and urge Congress to reinstate fair wages for Gulf
Coast workers:
http://go.sojo.net/campaign/fair_wages?rk=DdqB6LE1WXdUW

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[scifinoir2] Fw: Environmentalists Decry House Passage of Endangered Species 'Reform'

[Amy Harlib]

Environmentalists Decry House Passage of Endangered Species 'Reform'
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
What insanity is this!   How can the Bushites do this!  Don't they realize that 
when all the air and water and food is poisoned, they will die too?  How can 
they not see that this behavior will place them in the same situation as the 
folks in New Orleans?  Katrina is just the beginning!


   
   
--
Tell a friend about BushGreenwatch 

..






   September 30, 2005 | Back Issues 

Environmentalists Decry House Passage of Endangered 
Species 'Reform' 

By a vote of 229 to 193, the U.S. House yesterday 
passed a bill that environmentalists say will completely cripple the Endangered 
Species Act (ESA). Enacted into law in 1973 by President Richard Nixon, the ESA 
has been a cornerstone of America's environmental protection framework. The 
bill will move to the Senate next week. 


Sponsored by Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), a longtime foe 
of ESA, the new legislation is entitled the "Threatened and Endangered Species 
Recovery Act," or TESRA. It has triggered a firestorm of opposition across the 
entire spectrum of environmental organizations, who have united in an all-out 
effort to kill it in the Senate. 


Finding the phrase "Recovery Act" more than ironic, 
Defenders of Wildlife President Rodger Schlickeisen says TESRA "Runs counter to 
the very intent of the Endangered Species Act," containing "provisions that 
would severely cripple the federal effort to recover endangered plants and 
animals." [1] 


Environmentalists point out that the ESA through the 
years has saved such species as the bald eagle, Florida manatee and the key 
deer. If Rep. Pombo's TESRA had been in effect then, not even the bald eagle 
would qualify for listing. 


Drawing particular alarm is a provision that would end 
the protection of critical habitat necessary for the survival and recovery of 
plants and animals. Under the current law, areas designated "essential to the 
conservation of species" qualify as "critical habitat" and are subject to 
federal protection. Pombo's bill replaces "critical habitat" with a recovery 
plan that merely identifies areas that are valuable to the species, but does 
not mandate any specific federal protection. 


Critics charge that this change takes away the most 
effective provision of the ESA. Species that live in designated critical 
habitat are twice as likely to survive as those without this form of 
protection. [2] 


TESRA would also require taxpayers to pay developers 
and other landowners to comply with the ESA--in essence paying people not to 
break the law. It does this by requiring the Department of Interior to respond 
within 180 days to a landowner's request to implement a development plan; then, 
if the project is not permitted, the federal government must pay for any value 
that is allegedly lost. This, says Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological 
Diversity, literally "begs developers to plan projects that allow them to 
extort money from the government." [3] 


Moreover, while the current ESA requires that all 
decisions be based on the "best scientific and commercial information" 
available, the Pombo bill removes that authority from scientific experts and 
transfers it to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, whose record consistently 
favors commercial interests over environmental protection. 


The Pombo bill also eliminates the protection for 
"threatened" species, i.e. species not yet considered endangered, but whose 
population levels have reached dangerously low levels. [4] 


TESRA also makes it extremely difficult to list any 
species in the first place. In order for a species to be listed under TESRA, 
the Fish and Wildlife Service will have to duplicate and store all data on 
habitat decisions in every state in which the species exists. Environmental 
groups see this as a way to "bureaucratize a system that is already working 
fine." [5] 



### 

SOURCES: 
[1] "Assault on Endangered Species Act: Pombo Moving 
Legislation that would Cripple Endangered Species Act," Defenders of Wildlife, 
Sept. 19. 2005.
[2] "Pombo's Anti-Endangered Species Bill Leaked 
Again," Center for Biological Diversity, Sept. 15, 2005.
[3] Ibid. 
[4] Ibid. 
[5] Ibid. 


Permanent link to this article








  

[scifinoir2] 9 Planets? 12? What's a Planet, Anyway?

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Lively essay about how the course of scientific consensus does not always run 
smooth yet aways remains exciting.



October 4, 2005
9 Planets? 12? What's a Planet, Anyway? 
By DENNIS OVERBYE
In my daughter's circle of friends, one 3-year-old named Jared can reel off the 
names of all the planets. He and his parents are pretty proud, justly in my 
estimation, of this achievement. Little does he know, however, that the lords 
of astronomy are working against him.

For the last 18 months, a committee appointed by the International Astronomical 
Union has been pondering in frustrating exactitude whether the word "planet" 
means anything anymore. 

Last month Nature reported that the committee was ready to propose dumping the 
bare term "planet" in favor of an expanded, more embellished set of terms like 
"terrestrial planets," "trans-Neptunian planets" and so forth.

But that turned out to be a false alarm, according to the committee's chairman, 
Iwan Williams of Queen Mary College in London. He said in an e-mail message 
that although a majority favored the redefinition many other ideas were 
blooming and contending so fractiously that he despaired of ever reaching 
general agreement.

Dr. Williams said, "Up to this point I have been hoping for a consensus, but I 
guess we might need to go for a majority vote." 

The solar system is much more complicated now, astronomers say, than in 1930 
when Clyde Tombaugh added Pluto to the inventory of wandering lights circling 
the Sun. In addition to Earth, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Neptune, 
Uranus and Pluto, schoolchildren now learn that there are also comets and 
asteroids bumping about in the night.

But there are also the Oort cloud, a hypothesized halo of cometary bits 
hibernating in deep, deep space, and the Kuiper Belt, a ring of icy bodies 
beyond Neptune's orbit. Not mention the dozens of moons circling the planets.

Pluto is the big problem. Is it a planet or not? Some astronomers have long 
argued that its small size, less than one-fifth the diameter of Earth, and a 
weird tilted orbit that takes it inside Neptune every couple hundred years make 
Pluto more like a Kuiper Belt body than a full-fledged planet.

A furor arose five years ago when my colleague Kenneth Chang reported that the 
new Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History 
in New York had demoted Pluto, calling it a "Kuiper Belt object" rather than a 
planet.

The controversy became more desperate this summer when astronomers discovered a 
new object larger than Pluto orbiting in the Kuiper Belt at a distance of nine 
billion miles from the Sun. Michael E. Brown of the California Institute of 
Technology, its discoverer, has said it will be fine with him if Pluto is 
demoted to a minor planet, but, he argues, if Pluto is a planet, so is the new 
object, which he nicknamed Xena, making it the 10th planet. Last Friday Dr. 
Brown announced that Xena has a tiny moon, making it seem even more planetlike.

Brian Marsden, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for 
Astrophysics, directs the astronomical union's Minor Planet Center, a 
clearinghouse for solar system discoveries, thinks that both Pluto and Dr. 
Brown's Xena should be called minor planets. He is one of those who support the 
idea of categorizing planets into groups. But according to Dr. Williams, other 
members of the panel have championed other ideas, for example, that planets 
should be larger than 2,000 kilometers (or about 1,250 miles) in diameter 
(Pluto is about 1,500 miles)

Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson, of the Rose Center, who is not a member of the 
astronomical union committee, said the proposed naming scheme sounded a lot 
like the museum's system. He said, however, that the need to assign adjectives 
to the word "planet" might mean it was time to retire the term altogether.

Asked what he would replace it with, Dr. Tyson said he hoped the geologists 
could come up with something and offered up words like "terrestrials," for 
balls of dirt and rock like Earth; "Jovians," for giant gaseous planets like 
Jupiter and Saturn; comets; and so forth.

Not only did the panel members disagree on the definition of a planet, at last 
report they could not even agree, it seemed, on whether they were making 
progress. Within the space of a few minutes the other week, I received one 
e-mail message from Dr. Marsden saying he was optimistic and another from Alan 
Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Washington complaining that his morning 
e-mail gave him no sense that they were close to bringing the issue to a close.

In another e-mail message, Dr. Boss described the process as "like trying to 
shovel frogs into a wheelbarrow - they keep jumping out again."

The new object, now known poetically as 2003 UB313, is destined to languish 
nameless until the astronomical union panel comes to a conclus

[scifinoir2] The Truth About Quicksand Is Beginning to Sink In

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fascinating to discover the facts behind all those goofy scenes in all those 
silly movies! 




October 4, 2005
The Truth About Quicksand Is Beginning to Sink In 
By KENNETH CHANG
Real quicksand, the kind that is almost impossible to extricate yourself from, 
is not just water and sand. Salt and clay are also major ingredients in this 
B-movie plot device, scientists report in the current issue of Nature.

Their study began when Dr. Daniel Bonn, a professor of physics at the 
University of Amsterdam, was in Iran a few years ago and saw signs warning of 
quicksand. Naturally, the warning prompted him to collect samples and he sank 
in to his ankles.

He quickly escaped, but even shallow quicksand can be hard to step out of. Back 
home, Dr. Bonn and his colleagues found out why. Sand grains in quicksand are 
usually loosely packed, with the clay acting as a fragile gel holding the 
grains together.

Hit with sudden force from, say, a hapless victim, the quicksand gel turns to 
liquid. Then salt causes clay particles to stick to one another instead of the 
sand grains, with the result that a victim ends up surrounded by densely packed 
sand.

The force needed to pull out a person immersed in quicksand is about the same 
needed to lift a car, Dr. Bonn said. The trick for escaping is to slowly wiggle 
the feet and legs, allowing water to flow in. People float in quicksand so it 
is also impossible to sink all the way in, but quicksand usually forms at river 
estuaries, so a captive could drown at high tide.



  a.. Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company 
  b.. 
 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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[scifinoir2] A Bump for Bugs That Walk on Water

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Fascinating science tidbits.  The first one reminds me of James Blish's 
classic SF story 'Surface Tension' and its sequels.



October 4, 2005
A Bump for Bugs That Walk on Water 
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Your average water-walking insect makes a mountain out of a meniscus. For a 
water strider or other bug on the surface of a pond, the spot where water meets 
the shore, a stick or another object presents an obstacle - an upward-curving 
meniscus created by surface tension - that is like a mini-Mount Everest.

Some bugs can, however, scale a meniscus. As revealed by David L. Hu and John 
W. M. Bush, mathematicians at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the 
bugs do not stride uphill, but rather rely on capillary action to move up the 
slope in a fixed posture, as if on an escalator.

"They can't run up the meniscus using their traditional means of propulsion," 
said Dr. Bush, an associate professor who studies fluid mechanics and may be 
one of the few mathematicians with an insect lab. "So they've developed this 
peculiar technique."

Using a high-speed camera, Dr. Bush and Mr. Hu, a doctoral student, videotaped 
the meniscus-climbing behavior of different bugs, including those that tread 
water, and developed mathematical models of the behavior. (Video, mov format, 
from mit.edu. More information is at 
http://www-math.mit.edu/~dhu/Climberweb/climberweb.html.) Their findings are 
published in the journal Nature.

While the insects are not walking, they are hardly taking it easy. The front 
and rear legs, which have retractable claws, pull up on the water's surface, 
creating meniscuses that are drawn by capillary action to the nearby meniscus 
at the water's edge. "Their muscles are straining to apply the force," Dr. Bush 
said. The middle legs push down on the water, helping the bug to maintain 
equilibrium.

The bugs can travel the short distance up the meniscus very fast, up to 30 body 
lengths, or about 4 inches, per second. (By contrast, the fastest sprinters can 
run about five body lengths per second.) When they reach the top of the 
meniscus, the bugs clasp onto the dry surface and pull up the rest of the way. 

Even some beetle larvae were able to ride a meniscus, Dr. Bush said, by arching 
their backs and pulling up on the water at the front and the rear.

He said the movement is based on the same principle that causes Champagne 
bubbles to migrate to the edge of a glass, or the few remaining corn flakes in 
a bowl to clump together. 

"These bugs live in a world dominated by surface tension," Dr. Bush said. "When 
things become very small, surface tension becomes important compared with 
gravity."

Ancient Spider Blood

About 20 million years ago, a spider in what is now the Dominican Republic had 
a very bad day. It was climbing a tree when it was hit by a flow of resin 
coming from the opposite direction. The substance tore off some of the spider's 
legs and quickly engulfed it.

The resin fossilized into amber, preserving the spider, and now a scientist 
examining the amber has discovered that it contains several drops of blood. 
It's the first spider blood, or hemolymph, found in amber.

The scientist, David Penney of the University of Manchester in England, was 
able to determine much about the last moments of the spider, a previously 
unknown species in the family Filistatidae, a common one in the Caribbean. 

The spider lost four of its eight legs, and two of them are preserved nearby. 
This indicates that the spider did not walk onto a sticky patch, get stuck and 
become entombed by resin later. Rather, it was hit by a fast-moving stream of 
resin of relatively low viscosity. The findings were published in the journal 
Paleontology.

When a spider's leg is detached in this way, some blood seeps out of what 
remains of the appendage. Dr. Penney observed a drop near each of two legs. He 
was able to determine they are drops of hemolymph, and not air bubbles (which 
are common in amber), because they are not spherical, but have tails 
characteristic of a moving drop of fluid. 

Dr. Penney suggested that the drops could be reservoirs of ancient DNA. 
Extracting the DNA, a theoretical though unlikely possibility, could help 
scientists better understand spider evolution. But DNA degrades over time, so 
it couldn't be used to re-create this spider, à la "Jurassic Park."

Gorillas Also Use Tools

Three of the great apes - chimpanzees, orangutans and bonobos - have 
demonstrated the ability to use tools in the wild. Chimpanzees, for instance, 
use sticks to fish for termites in mounds.

Gorillas had been the only great apes not known as tool users in the wild, but 
now they've joined the club. Scientists from the Wildlife Conservation Society 
and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany have 
observed two gorillas in the Congo Republic using tree branches and other 
obj

[scifinoir2] Fw: The Da Vinci Glow

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Really cool.
Da Vinci was the protagonist in at least 2 alternate history SF novels, one by 
Paul McCauley and one by Jack Dann.


NASA Science News for October 4, 2005
Later this week, at sunset, you can step outside and witness a display of light 
and shadow on the Moon that puzzled sky watchers for thousands of years--until 
Leonardo Da Vinci figured it out.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/04oct_leonardo.htm?list86684

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!


You are currently subscribed to snglist as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 

This is a free service.

To unsubscribe click here: http://lyris.msfc.nasa.gov/u?id=86684K&n=T&l=snglist
or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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[scifinoir2] FW:Hurricane Hugo- Insights from Chavez on global Crisis

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I wish he were president of the entire world!


http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mike_whi_050917_hurricane_hugo_at_th
.htm

Hurricane Hugo at the U.N.
by Mike Whitney

http://www.opednews.com

Hurricane Hugo at the U.N. by Mike Whitney

"Practically no one in the United States knows that we've donated
millions of dollars to the governorship of Louisiana, to the New
Orleans Red Cross. We're now giving care to more than 5,000 victims,
and now we're going to supply gasoline, freely in some cases, and
with discounts in other cases, to the poorest of communities,
starting with New Orleans and its surroundings... We've been helping.
And we've been even rescuing people." Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez; "Nightline" with Ted Koppel, 9-16-05

Hugo Chavez's performance at the UN was greeted with the bucket-loads
of bile that one expects from America's rightward-titling media.
Washington Post hatchet-man Colum Lynch provided a typical summary of
the speech by dismissing it as "a rant" from the Venezuelan "bad-
boy". But, Lynch isn't alone in his hostility; the outpouring of
venom came from all corners; appearing in many newspapers across the
nation, invoking the hackneyed expressions of contempt for any
foreign leader who rebuffs Washington or who follows redistributive
economic policies.

In fact, the speech was a brilliant and impassioned analysis of the
current state of the world and of the United Nations. Chavez noted
that the original intention of the gathering had been "completely
distorted" by the so-called reform process introduced by John Bolton.
The reforms are entirely designed to transform the UN into a cats-paw
for American power creating greater flexibility for Washington's
preemptive wars and for dismantling the foundations of international
law. They signal the demise of the UN as a legitimate forum for world
development and an invitation for Bush and co. to act with even
greater impunity.

The Bush administration's maneuvering has successfully sabotaged the
efforts made by the international community for real improvement. The
goals of the Millennium Summit, to reduce hunger, poverty and
ignorance, will not be achieved and the mission of the UN has been
effectively torpedoed by Bolton's machinations. Chavez speech draws
this same obvious conclusion:

"Friends of the world, The United Nations has exhausted its model,
and it is not all about reform. The XXI century claims deep changes
that will only be possible if a new organization is founded. This UN
does not work. We have to say it. It is the truth."

Chavez's remarks are not intended to disgrace the UN, but to offer a
different vision for the future. He recognizes the pressing
requirements of the new century and realizes that many of these
problems "do not have a national solution: radioactive clouds, world
oil prices, diseases, warming of the planet or the hole in the ozone
layer. These are not domestic problems."

Chavez proposes his own set of reforms for the UN, including
expansion of the Security Council, greater transparency, increasing
the powers of the Secretary General, and "suppressing" the power of
one nation to veto resolutions made by the council. But, he does not
believe that reforms are enough by themselves and insists that the UN
be transformed completely, beginning with a change of venue from New
York to an "international city with its own sovereignty". Chavez's
logic is inescapable; if the United States continues to flaunt UN
resolutions and violate international law, as it has with the Iraq
war, it should not be host to the world body. Chavez's suggestion was
not made to humiliate the United States, but to demonstrate the
urgency of the calamity the world faces if action is not taken
swiftly on matters of mutual concern. Chavez takes a keen interest in
these issues even though Washington chooses to ignore them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing an unprecedented energy crisis
in which an unstoppable increase of energy is perilously reaching
record highs, as well as the incapacity of increased oil supply and
the perspective of a decline in the proven reserves of fuel
worldwide. Oil is starting to become exhausted.

For the year 2020 the daily demand for oil will be 120 million
barrels. Such demand, even without counting future increments- would
consume in 20 years what humanity has used up to now. This means that
more carbon dioxide will inevitably be increased, thus warming our
planet even more."

Chavez cogently draws a straight line between global warming to the
devastation of Hurricane Katrina; the first major city lost
from rising ocean temperatures. He deftly connects the tragedy to the
neoliberal economic model which continues to thrust the world in a
catastrophic direction.

"It is unpractical and unethical to sacrifice the human race by
appealing in an insane manner the validity of a socioeconomic model
that has a galloping destructive capacity. It would be suicidal to
spread it and impose it a

[scifinoir2] FW:Hurricane Hugo- Insights from Chavez on global Crisis

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I wish he were president of the entire world!
Oops!  I wish he WAS president of the entire world!


http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_mike_whi_050917_hurricane_hugo_at_th
.htm

Hurricane Hugo at the U.N.
by Mike Whitney

http://www.opednews.com

Hurricane Hugo at the U.N. by Mike Whitney

"Practically no one in the United States knows that we've donated
millions of dollars to the governorship of Louisiana, to the New
Orleans Red Cross. We're now giving care to more than 5,000 victims,
and now we're going to supply gasoline, freely in some cases, and
with discounts in other cases, to the poorest of communities,
starting with New Orleans and its surroundings... We've been helping.
And we've been even rescuing people." Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez; "Nightline" with Ted Koppel, 9-16-05

Hugo Chavez's performance at the UN was greeted with the bucket-loads
of bile that one expects from America's rightward-titling media.
Washington Post hatchet-man Colum Lynch provided a typical summary of
the speech by dismissing it as "a rant" from the Venezuelan "bad-
boy". But, Lynch isn't alone in his hostility; the outpouring of
venom came from all corners; appearing in many newspapers across the
nation, invoking the hackneyed expressions of contempt for any
foreign leader who rebuffs Washington or who follows redistributive
economic policies.

In fact, the speech was a brilliant and impassioned analysis of the
current state of the world and of the United Nations. Chavez noted
that the original intention of the gathering had been "completely
distorted" by the so-called reform process introduced by John Bolton.
The reforms are entirely designed to transform the UN into a cats-paw
for American power creating greater flexibility for Washington's
preemptive wars and for dismantling the foundations of international
law. They signal the demise of the UN as a legitimate forum for world
development and an invitation for Bush and co. to act with even
greater impunity.

The Bush administration's maneuvering has successfully sabotaged the
efforts made by the international community for real improvement. The
goals of the Millennium Summit, to reduce hunger, poverty and
ignorance, will not be achieved and the mission of the UN has been
effectively torpedoed by Bolton's machinations. Chavez speech draws
this same obvious conclusion:

"Friends of the world, The United Nations has exhausted its model,
and it is not all about reform. The XXI century claims deep changes
that will only be possible if a new organization is founded. This UN
does not work. We have to say it. It is the truth."

Chavez's remarks are not intended to disgrace the UN, but to offer a
different vision for the future. He recognizes the pressing
requirements of the new century and realizes that many of these
problems "do not have a national solution: radioactive clouds, world
oil prices, diseases, warming of the planet or the hole in the ozone
layer. These are not domestic problems."

Chavez proposes his own set of reforms for the UN, including
expansion of the Security Council, greater transparency, increasing
the powers of the Secretary General, and "suppressing" the power of
one nation to veto resolutions made by the council. But, he does not
believe that reforms are enough by themselves and insists that the UN
be transformed completely, beginning with a change of venue from New
York to an "international city with its own sovereignty". Chavez's
logic is inescapable; if the United States continues to flaunt UN
resolutions and violate international law, as it has with the Iraq
war, it should not be host to the world body. Chavez's suggestion was
not made to humiliate the United States, but to demonstrate the
urgency of the calamity the world faces if action is not taken
swiftly on matters of mutual concern. Chavez takes a keen interest in
these issues even though Washington chooses to ignore them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are facing an unprecedented energy crisis
in which an unstoppable increase of energy is perilously reaching
record highs, as well as the incapacity of increased oil supply and
the perspective of a decline in the proven reserves of fuel
worldwide. Oil is starting to become exhausted.

For the year 2020 the daily demand for oil will be 120 million
barrels. Such demand, even without counting future increments- would
consume in 20 years what humanity has used up to now. This means that
more carbon dioxide will inevitably be increased, thus warming our
planet even more."

Chavez cogently draws a straight line between global warming to the
devastation of Hurricane Katrina; the first major city lost
from rising ocean temperatures. He deftly connects the tragedy to the
neoliberal economic model which continues to thrust the world in a
catastrophic direction.

"It is unpractical and unethical to sacrifice the human race by
appealing in an insane manner the validity of a socioeconomic model
that has a galloping destructive cap

[scifinoir2] Demand the Truth About Valerie Plame

[Amy Harlib]

Forwarded by Amy Harlib <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

I just sent a personal message to all my representatives in Congress, I hope 
you will join me!

http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/55

Demand the Truth About Valerie Plame

I urge you to support Rep. Rush Holt's Resolution of Inquiry (H. RES. 363) 
requesting the President and directing the Secretary of State, the Secretary of 
Defense, the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Attorney 
General to transmit to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days 
after the date of the adoption of this resolution documents in the possession 
of the President and those officials relating to the disclosure of the identity 
and employment of Ms. Valerie Plame. We need a discharge petition in order to 
overcome Republican stonewalling.
 

http://www.democrats.com/peoplesemailnetwork/55

Thank you



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[scifinoir2] Bush nominates Miers - will she uphold the right to choose?

[Amy Harlib]

Dear Friend,

President Bush has nominated Harriet Miers - the White House's
own counsel and formerly Bush's personal lawyer - to replace
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, who was the swing vote to protect
women's reproductive freedom on the Supreme Court. 

But what is Harriet Miers' judicial philosophy? Would she
continue Justice O'Connor's support for the right to choose and
Roe v. Wade? Or does she reflect President Bush's political
opinion that Roe was wrongly decided and should be overturned?
Please contact your senators and urge them to ask these
questions.
http://prochoiceaction.org/campaign/sen_miers_scotus_100305?rk=ppqFNWF19RPNW

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[scifinoir2] Ancient Interstellar Collision Helps Explain Source of Radiation

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cosmic stuff. 



October 5, 2005
Ancient Interstellar Collision Helps Explain Source of Radiation 
By DENNIS OVERBYE
With a screech of high-energy radiation brighter than a million billion suns, a 
pair of stars in a faraway galaxy collided two billion years ago and 
disappeared into a black hole.

That cataclysm, recorded by a battery of telescopes and NASA satellites on July 
9, has provided scientists with the answer to the last remaining piece of 
35-year-old astronomical mystery: the origin of explosions that sporadically 
shower outer space with gamma rays, the most energetic and deadly form of 
electromagnetic radiation.

"This is the real deal," said Donald Lamb of the University of Chicago, a 
co-author of one of four papers by an international cast of astronomers being 
published on Thursday in the journal Nature.

The results from July 9 and a handful of other events, the astronomers said in 
interviews and at a news conference today at NASA headquarters in Washington, 
suggest that the universe is peppered with the titanic collisions of the 
remnants of dead stars, either the dense cinders known as neutron stars or 
black holes too dense for even light to escape. Such a collision would result 
in a black hole, theorists said.

According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, such collisions should 
cause the very fabric of space and time to rock and roll with so-called 
gravitational waves. These events now seem to be more common than theorists 
thought, and detecting them will open a window on some of the most exotic and 
violent processes in nature.

Nobody knows how many such objects exist or why some supernova explosions leave 
neutron stars behind and others leave black holes.

Neil Gehrels, an astronomer at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center and the lead 
author of another paper in Nature, said astronomers knew of double star systems 
- the hypothesized arena of such apocalyptic mergers - in which both objects 
are neutron stars. "Until now," he said, "we have never seen them merge or 
vaporize. This is the first evidence of it happening." 

Gamma ray bursts come in two types: long and short. Two years ago, astronomers 
were able to trace the long bursts, which last from two seconds up to a minute 
or more, to certain kinds of supernova explosions in very distant galaxies.

But about 10 percent of the bursts are shorter, often lasting less than a 
second, and have thus been harder to study. Theorists have speculated that they 
could originate in double-star systems where a pair of neutrons stars or a 
neutron star and a black hole spiral ever tighter in a death dance toward 
merger and oblivion.

But on May 9, by homing in on the X-ray afterglow of a short burst, a team 
using NASA's Swift satellite was able to trace a 70-millisecond burst to the 
vicinity of an elliptical galaxy about 2.9 billion light-years away in the 
constellation Coma Berenices. This was significant, because such galaxies lack 
the massive young stars that give rise to the more violent core-collapse 
explosions.

The breakthrough came on July 9, when a NASA satellite called the High-Energy 
Transient Explorer (HETE for short, pronounced hetty) detected a short gamma 
ray pulse from the constellation Grus.

"We caught it with everything," said Derek Fox of Pennsylvania State 
University, lead author of another paper. An X-ray camera on the satellite was 
able to detect and pinpoint a faint afterglow accurately enough so that the 
Chandra X-Ray Observatory was able to swing into action.

As a result, a team led by Jens Hjorth of the University of Copenhagen was able 
to use a Danish telescope at the European Southern Observatory to find the 
afterglow in visible light on the outskirts of a small blue galaxy about 2.1 
billion light years away. It was the first time that had been achieved for a 
short burst. Dr. Fox and his colleagues were able to watch it fade for over a 
month using the Hubble Space Telescope.

>From the distance, Dr. Fox and his colleagues were able to calculate the 
>magnitude of the explosion and found that it was a hundredth to a thousandth 
>as bright as a typical long burst, in line with the predictions for a marriage 
>of two neutron stars. The location of the burst - on the outskirts of the 
>galaxy far from the regions where young massive stars form - also favored a 
>collision.

But perhaps most important of all, as Dr. Ricker pointed out, is what did not 
happen. There was no supernova in that blue galaxy, leaving a collision as the 
only likely possibility. "The July 9 burst was like the dog that didn't bark," 
said George Ricker of M.I.T., a co-author of one Nature paper and HETE's 
principal scientist. He called the outcome "an open-and-shut case."

"Our baby satellite came through," he said.

Astronomers are not sure, however, if they can tell what kind of objects they 
have observe

[scifinoir2] Reject Harriet Miers and appoint a moderate to the Supreme Court. :

[Amy Harlib]

Forwarded by Amy Harlib <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

I just sent a personal message using the easy one click form below to my local 
daily newspaper, I hope you will join me!

http://www.usalone.com/

REJECT HARRIET MIERS AND DEMAND A TRUE MODERATE ON THE SUPREME COURT 

We the people of the United States hereby call for a NATIONAL REFERENDUM, by 
email, by phone call, by fax, and by letter, on the choice of a replacement for 
Sandra Day O'Connor on our Supreme Court.

Now we see the insane cowardice of all that "pick our battles" and "save our 
ammunition" talk.  Not raising more of a hue and cry about the stealth 
reactionary John Roberts has ONLY led the Bush administration to put forward 
someone even MORE objectionable, whose only qualification appears to be her 
status as a loyal administration crony.

It is not enough to simply defeat this insulting selection to our nation's 
highest court.  We must at the same time demand that her replacement be more 
than just not quite as bad.  We therefore call on our senators to DEMAND a 
different, more experienced and moderate nominee who better represents the 
mainstream of the American people. 

http://www.usalone.com/

Thank you



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[scifinoir2] Fw: FEMA's All-White Leadersip Plagued by Discrimination Complaints

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Confirms what most sensitive folks already intuited!

Subject: FEMA's All-White Leadersip Plagued by Discrimination Complaints


What did Dubya say on national TV a few weeks ago *before* the Katrina-FEMA
disaster? "Brownie, you're doing a fine job."

H.

FYI, in case you hadn't read this story about FEMA. This is what happens
when one appoints (unqualified) political friends to management positions
instead of hiring the best qualified person (regardless of color) for the
job.

George
- - - - - - - -
http://www.diversityinc.com/members/17322.cfm
DiversityInc Exclusive:
FEMA's Almost All-White Leadership Plagued by Discrimination Complaints
By Yoji Cole
© 2005 DiversityInc.com®
September 20, 2005

You read it here exclusively. Information obtained by DiversityInc reveals
the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an organization plagued by
racial inequities, which makes clear the reasons for its inability to relate
to and provide for people of color, especially low-income blacks.

Information obtained by DiversityInc through a federal Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) request shows FEMA's leadership is almost entirely
white and the federal agency has been subject to a disproportionate amount
of discrimination claims.

Race became a salient factor in judging the effectiveness of FEMA's response
after DiversityInc learned that of the organization's 19 senior staff
members listed on its Web site, only one is a person of color and only five
are women. The only person of color is the director of FEMA's Office of
Civil Rights, Pauline C. Campbell, a black woman.

In addition, employee complaints citing race and gender bias at FEMA have
increased dramatically in the past year, according to DiversityInc's
findings.

Despite a Freedom of Information Act request from DiversityInc, FEMA still
has not released the racial/ethnic demographics of its entire staff of
approximately 2,000 employees. FEMA did tell DiversityInc that of its 10
regional directors, all are white.

Discrimination complaints are soaring at the agency. In the first three
quarters of FY2005 (the federal fiscal year ends Sept. 30), FEMA had more
internal complaints based on race and sex than it had in 2003 and 2004
combined and more than it had in any year since 2000. The first three
quarters of FY2005 saw race-based complaints more than double, from 12 in
2004 to 31 in 2005, according to data released to DiversityInc by FEMA.

The first three quarters of 2005 also saw complaints based on gender
discrimination soar, up almost 400 percent, from 11 in 2004 to 43 in 2005.
That also was an increase in complaints from 15 in 2003, 16 in 2002, 20 in
2001 and 17 in 2000.

The concept of diversity is prehistoric at FEMA, when compared with the
in-depth and pervasive approach of companies on The DiversityInc Top 50
Companies for Diversity list. Take a look at FEMA's Web site, for example.
The organization's diversity link, which should spotlight management
programs, leadership, multicultural marketing and supplier diversity,
doesn't do any of that. Instead, it only links to a year-long Calendar of
Special Observance Programs, such as Martin Luther King Jr. Day,
African-American History Month and Women's History Month. And, the
organization's Equal Rights Officer Cadre mostly deals with complaints and
resolution, according to FEMA's Web site.

Campbell, whose Equal Rights office should be providing and implementing
diversity-management programs, such as employee-resource groups, mentoring
programs and diversity training, did not return repeated calls from
DiversityInc requesting an interview.

That Campbell is FEMA's only leader of color and that race, gender and sex
complaints have increased indicates an organization whose leadership is
ignorant of the benefit of having a staff that reflects the nation's
demographics. FEMA lacks senior officials who are knowledgeable of
culturally competent responses to victims and employees. Having leadership
and staff of color becomes a life-and-death situation when it is FEMA, an
organization providing relief through evacuation, food, money and
medication.

This is of concern to black members of Congress as well, especially Rep.
Bennie G. Thompson, D-Miss., the ranking member of the U.S. House Committe
on Homeland Security.

"I just spoke to Michael Chertoff [head of the Department of Homeland
Security] about an hour ago and told him that I'd been in several meetings
this weekend in the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina and I had not seen
one African American who works for FEMA," Thompson told DiversityInc Monday.

"I was in New Orleans, in Jackson, Miss., in Hancock County, Miss., this
weekend and at every meeting there were a number of FEMA representatives but
not one was African American," Thompson said.

The dearth of leaders of color becomes even more alarming when a great many
of the citizens FEMA is supposed to help are people of color and poor.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, th

[scifinoir2] Fuentes: In Praise of the Novel

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brilliant!

Fuentes: In Praise of the Novel



>>POV: in praise of the novel
==

http://www.signandsight.com/features/361.html
In praise of the novel
Author Carlos Fuentes on Cervantes, Kafka, and the saving grace of
literature.


Not long ago, the Norwegian Academy addressed one hundred writers
from all over the world with a single question: Name the novel that
you consider the best ever written.

Of the one hundred consulted, fifty answered: "Don Quixote de la
Mancha" by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Quite a landslide,
considering the runners up: Dostoevsky, Faulkner and Garcia Marquez,
in that order. The results of this consultation pose the interesting
question of the long-seller versus the best-seller. There is, of
course, no answer that fits all cases: Why does a bestseller sell,
why does a long-seller last?

Don Quixote was a big bestseller when it first appeared in 1605, and
has continued to sell ever since, whereas William Faulkner was
definitively a bad seller if you compare the meager sales
of "Absalom, Absalom" (1936) to those of the really big-seller of
the year, Hervey Allen's "Anthoy Adverse", a Napoleonic saga of
love, war and trade.

Which means that here is no actual thermometer in these matters,
even if time will not only tell: Time will sell. One might think
that Cervantes was in tune with his times whereas Stendhal
consciously wrote for "the happy few" and sold poorly in his own
life, was given the reward of Balzac's praise before he died and
only came into his own thanks to the efforts of the critic Henri
Martineau in the 20th Century.

Some writers achieve great popularity and then disappear forever.
The bestseller lists of the past fifty years are, with a few lively
exceptions, a somber graveyard of dead books. Yet permanence is not
a wilful proposition. No one can write a book aspiring to
immortality, for it would then court both ridicule and certain
mortality. Plato puts immortality in perspective when he states that
eternity, when it moves, becomes time, eternity being a kind of
frozen time. And William Blake certainly brings things down to
earth: Eternity is in love with the works of time.

The works of time. We could take each one of the writers I have
quoted so far and undertake a fruitful excursion into their
relationship with the times they lived. Fascinating as this can and
should be, I wonder how much it tells us about the books that they
wrote, the imagination that moved them to write, their use of
language, their critical approach to the art of literature, their
awareness of belonging to the larger tradition that Milan Kundera
invokes in his recent book "The Curtain": the fact that a novelist
belongs, more than to his country or even to his native tongue, to a
tradition in which Rabelais, Cervantes, Sterne and Diderot are a
part of the same family and that family, as desired by Goethe, lives
in the house of world literature, the Weltliteratur which each
writer, Goethe suggests, fosters independently of national
literatures that - he goes on - "have ceased to represent anything
of importance".

If this be true, then all great works of literature contain both the
tradition they spring from and add to and the new creation that
depends as much on preceding tradition as tradition, if it is to
remain in good health, depends upon the new creations that nourish
it. Since this is the year of the fourth centennial of Don Quixote
and since I consider Cervantes' book to be the founding cornerstone
of the novel as it has evolved since the 17th Century, permit me to
root in it the vocabulary I have been employing.

Cervantes belongs to a tradition he cannot speak of. This is the
tradition of Erasmus of Rotterdam, the guiding light of the early
Spanish Renaissance in the court of the young Charles V, a candle
soon extinguished by the cold dogmatic winds of the Counter
Reformation. After the Council of Trent, Erasmus and his works are
banned by the Inquisition, his legacy a secret.

Cervantes was steeped in this forbidden philosophy. Erasmus searched
for reconciliation between Faith and Reason, refusing not only the
dogmas of Faith, but the dogmas of Reason as well. Thus, Cervantes,
who was a disciple of the Spanish Erasmists, had to disguise his
intellectual allegiance. The "Praise of Folly" is the praise of Don
Quixote as he wanders through an Erasmian universe in which all
truths are suspect, everything is bathed in incertitude and the
modern novel thus acquires its birth-right.

Since Cervantes cannot admit the liberating influence of Erasmian
thought, he goes Erasmus one better: the wisdom of Rotterdam becomes
the folly of La Mancha and the marriage of "la sagesse"
and "l'incertitude" brings forth the novel as we understand it. A
privileged space, indeed, of incertitude.

An uncertain place: a forgotten village in an insolated province of
Spain. An un-namable place: "En un lugar de la Mancha de cuyo nombre
no quiero acordarme". An uncertai

[scifinoir2] Moscow Cats Theatre performance review

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
This is the first time I have written a review of a live performance event.  I 
thought it was so fantastic (for a cat lover like me) and it even had a 
sciencefictional skit in it that added to the fun, that I decided I had to 
share my enthusiasm. 
Cheers!
Amy 

Moscow Cats Theatre (Tribeca Performing Arts Center, 199 Chambers St., NYC, 
9/17-10/30 extended to Nov. 30, 2005.  www.moscowcatstheatre.com).

 

On Fri. Oct. 7, 2005 I had the pleasure of attending a performance of the 
Moscow Cats Theatre at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in NYC.  According to 
their promotional material, the theatre's founder, Yuri Kuklachev, began his 
career clowning in the Moscow Circus where he first conceived the idea of using 
a particularly amenable adopted stray cat in his act.  This proved such a 
success that Mr. Kuklachev went independent and formed his own troupe in 1990 
and has been wowing audiences and winning awards in his Russian home and around 
the world ever since, working with his wife Yelena, his son Dmitri, and 
colleagues Marina and 4 other clowns plus 20 cats (long and short haired) and 2 
small dogs (not to mention a numerous support and tech crew and a full-time 
vet).  

 

The show I saw ran approx. 90 minutes with no intermission, graced with 
dazzling and colorful costumes, props, expert lighting and set décor including 
beautiful and witty artistic drawings by Mr. Kuklachev who is also a highly 
talented fine artist.  His renderings adorn the program book and prints can be 
bought in the lobby.  The entire show gets accompanied by a solo synthesizer 
player who performs a sprightly rock-beat medley of well-known contemporary and 
adapted classical tunes and a sound FX guy whose clever noises enhance the 
comedic action.

 

Technical background aside, the on-stage antics are a pure delight.  The 
animals are trained with infinite love and patience to accentuate what cats do 
naturally, the felines getting petted and coaxed and rewarded with strokes and 
gentle sounds constantly - kindness and care for the furry frolickers firmly 
emphasized by Yuri and Dmitiri Kuklachev in all their interviews and publicity. 
 And this can clearly be seen by the spectators who react by gasping in awe and 
laughing and clapping non-stop throughout.

 

The cats, mostly moggies with a few pure-breeds amongst them and two small 
mongrel dogs - all critters utterly adorable, well-groomed and healthy, work a 
few at a time and never all at once, totally harmoniously with each other and 
the humans.  The set-pieces flow smoothly, years of showmanship obvious, one 
routine cleverly transitioning into the next and featuring: feline feats of 
balancing on small platforms atop tall poles and across thin, tightrope-like 
horizontal poles, locomoting on top and startlingly from underneath, upside 
down.  

 

Acts also included: the famous "Cat in the Pot" in which Mr. Kuklachev, in 
chef's attire, enters with a cooking vessel and, surprised to discover a cat 
inside, he removes her, but each time she immediately jumps right back in 
again.  More treats involved: various combinations of the cats and the dogs 
pulling and/or pushing each other across the stage in various styles of little 
carts; a cat on a rocking horse; cats emerging out of or disappearing into all 
manner of boxes and containers; kitties perching on or leaping off or onto the 
shoulders of the humans during their antics; and a bit where a cat and Mr. 
Kuklachev were switching on and off a tricky light bulb on a low table - you 
had to see it to believe it.   One of the best feats gets performed by Mr. 
Kuklachev's favorite cat Marusa, a gorgeous fluffy tortie and white who does a 
"paw stand" on his hand, an amazing stunt depicted in all the promo photos but 
truly astounding before one's own eyes. 

 

Lots of audience participation happens throughout involving beach ball tossing, 
plentiful balloons, getting a chance to be the subject of Mr. Kuklachev's quick 
sketches and including some volunteers being asked to come onstage to assist.  
The show climaxes with the story of "Queen of the Cats" a sort of allegory in 
which Mr. Kuklachev portrays a painter who, when he goes to sleep, dreams about 
elephant-like aliens (actually performers in amusing costumes) arriving in a 
UFO from outer space. They attempt to steal his cats and the mysterious, lovely 
Queen of the Cats arrives to save the day with her mirrored discotheque-type 
ball that emits "rays of goodness" spreading love and kindness throughout the 
world.  Here we see the royal cat balancing on the ball which slowly spins, lit 
to fill the entire auditorium with sparkly light effects.  This gets a very 
favorable response from the onlookers.

 

I adored the show, presented and staged with consummate skill, full of laughter 
and thrills and fun and fabulous felines.  The human performers certainly love 
what they do, and their fondness for their furry compatriots shines th

[scifinoir2] 'Our Inner Ape': Hey Hey, We're the Monkeys

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Fascinating.



October 9, 2005
'Our Inner Ape': Hey Hey, We're the Monkeys 
By TEMPLE GRANDIN
Our closest genetic cousins, the apes, are capable of great empathy but also of 
violent, ruthless killing. Frans de Waal, a prominent primatologist, compares 
our social behavior with that of two species of apes: chimpanzees and bonobos 
(which look like smaller, more upright chimps). Despite their physical 
similarities, the two species behave very differently. Bonobos live in a 
relatively peaceful matriarchy; when conflicts do arise, instead of fighting 
they often use sexual activity to resolve them, defusing the aggression with 
friendly physical contact. Like hippies, they make love, not war. Chimp 
society, however, is a male-dominated hierarchy based on power. Unlike the 
gentle bonobos, who seldom kill, chimps will hunt for meat and even kill 
members of rival groups.

In this fascinating book, de Waal suggests that the two species represent sides 
of our own nature. We have "not one but two inner apes," he writes, speculating 
that humans may act like a hybrid of bonobos and chimps. (Little is known about 
actual bonobo-chimp hybrids except for a group that lives in a French traveling 
circus and strikes visitors with its "gentility and sensitivity.")

Helping the weak and sharing are part of both bonobo and chimp societies. De 
Waal gives a rather fierce example for the chimps: When individuals cooperate 
to hunt a monkey, they always share the meat. 

Among bonobos, Kidogo, a male with a heart condition, was having difficulty 
adjusting to shifting routines when he was transferred to a new zoo. The other 
bonobos "approached Kidogo, took him by the hand and led him to where the 
keepers wanted him, thus showing they understood both the keepers' intentions 
and Kidogo's problem." Kuni, meanwhile, a bonobo at a zoo in Britain, helped an 
injured starling that had crashed into the glass of her enclosure. She picked 
it up and tried to set it on its feet, then climbed a tree and carefully spread 
its wings to help it to fly before she released it. "She tailored her 
assistance to the specific situation of an animal totally different from 
herself," de Waal writes.

Where the two ape species diverge most are in the realms of sex and violence. 
Bonobos don't exactly distinguish between sex and friendly touching. Since 
their behavior is so often X-rated, you will have to read the book to learn the 
details. There you'll also find details of chimpanzee violence. Infanticide, de 
Waal tells us, is a leading cause of death among chimps, both in zoos and in 
the wild. One reason bonobos engage in so much sex is to prevent rival males 
from killing their babies. If everybody has sex with everybody else, there's no 
saying who's the daddy.

Like humans, chimps can be ruthless toward individuals who are not part of 
their troop. De Waal explains that large-brained animals capable of using 
empathy to do kind things for others are also capable of great cruelty, because 
they can imagine what their victims will feel. One of the most shocking 
incidents he describes occurred at Gombe National Park in Tanzania, where a 
group of chimps lived peacefully for years. As youngsters they played and 
groomed one another, but the group gradually drifted apart and formed two new 
groups. Chimps that had known one another for years were now in conflict. 
"Shocked researchers watched as former friends now drank each other's blood. 
Not even the oldest community members were left alone. An extremely 
frail-looking male, Goliath, was pummeled for 20 minutes and dragged about." De 
Waal compares this horrible chimp behavior to genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia. 
With chimps, as with humans, fighting within one's own group is restrained 
compared with attacks on outsiders.

De Waal does not discuss the possible genetic implications of many of his 
observations. Animals who have high-fear genetics are less inclined to be 
aggressive because they are afraid to fight, and stressful, scary situations 
can affect them more dramatically. When bombs fell on Munich during World War 
II, de Waal tells us, all the bonobos in the zoo died of heart failure, but all 
the chimps survived. Unfortunately, he does not discuss how these differences 
in fearfulness might affect social behavior. Fear and other traits, like 
aggression and sociability, have a strong genetic component. In my own work 
with antelopes, I have observed huge differences in the startle and fear 
response between individual animals. It is likely that there may be genetic 
differences between the most peaceful and most violent chimps. 

Also, since I am a person with autism, I do not agree with de Waal's view that 
emotions are required for making choices and storing memories. I use my visual 
thinking all the time to make logical choices. When Kuni helped the injured 
bird, emotion

[scifinoir2] The Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
This is the most concise, sensible and logical discussion of arguably the MOST 
important issue we face - the very foundation of the technological world.
Spread this far and wide.SEND IT TO YOUR POLITICAL REPRESENTATIVES.
WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!

  The Mirage of a Growing Fuel Supply
  By Evar D. Nering
  June 4, 2001 New York Times Op-Ed
 
  SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - When I discussed the exponential function in the 
first-semester calculus classes that I taught, I invariably used consumption of 
a nonrenewable natural resource as an example. Since we are now engaged in a 
national debate about energy policy, it may be useful to talk about the 
mathematics involved in making a rational decision about resource use.

  In my classes, I described the following hypothetical situation. We have 
a 100-year supply of a resource, say oil - that is, the oil would last 100 
years if it were consumed at its current rate. But the oil is consumed at a 
rate that grows by 5 percent each year. How long would it last under these 
circumstances? This is an easy calculation; the answer is about 36 years.

  Oh, but let's say we underestimated the supply, and we actually have a 
1,000-year supply. At the same annual 5 percent growth rate in use, how long 
will this last? The answer is about 79 years.

  Then let us say we make a striking discovery of more oil yet - a bonanza 
- and we now have a 10,000-year supply. At our same rate of growing use, how 
long would it last? Answer: 125 years.

  Estimates vary for how long currently known oil reserves will last, 
though they are usually considerably less than 100 years. But the point of this 
analysis is that it really doesn't matter what the estimates are. There is no 
way that a supply-side attack on America's energy problem can work.

  The exponential function describes the behavior of any quantity whose 
rate of change is proportional to its size. Compound interest is the most 
commonly encountered example - it would produce exponential growth if the 
interest were calculated at a continuing rate. I have heard public statements 
that use "exponential" as though it describes a large or sudden increase. But 
exponential growth does not have to be large, and it is never sudden. Rather, 
it is inexorable.

  Calculations also show that if consumption of an energy resource is 
allowed to grow at a steady 5 percent annual rate, a full doubling of the 
available supply will not be as effective as reducing that growth rate by half 
- to 2.5 percent. Doubling the size of the oil reserve will add at most 14 
years to the life expectancy of the resource if we continue to use it at the 
currently increasing rate, no matter how large it is currently. On the other 
hand, halving the growth of consumption will almost double the life expectancy 
of the supply, no matter what it is.

  This mathematical reality seems to have escaped the politicians pushing 
to solve our energy problem by simply increasing supply. Building more power 
plants and drilling for more oil is exactly the wrong thing to do, because it 
will encourage more use. If we want to avoid dire consequences, we need to find 
the political will to reduce the growth in energy consumption to zero - or even 
begin to consume less.

  I must emphasize that reducing the growth rate is not what most people 
are talking about now when they advocate conservation; the steps they recommend 
are just Band-Aids. If we increase the gas mileage of our automobiles and then 
drive more miles, for example, that will not reduce the growth rate.

  Reducing the growth of consumption means living closer to where we work 
or play. It means telecommuting. It means controlling population growth. It 
means shifting to renewable energy sources.

  It is not, perhaps, necessary to cut our use of oil, but it is essential 
that we cut the rate of increase at which we consume it. To do otherwise is to 
leave our descendants in an impoverished world.

  Evar D. Nering is professor emeritus of mathematics at Arizona State 
University
 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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[scifinoir2] Stop White House Propaganda

[Amy Harlib]

A recent GAO report found the White House used taxpayer funds to create "covert 
propaganda." This administration has set aside a quarter billion in taxpayer 
dollars to push its political agenda. 

Join me in urging Congress and the Justice Department to find out what's being 
done in our name and with our money. Demand full prosecution of all White House 
propaganda crimes at:

http://www.freepress.net/action/stopprop 

For more information visit the Free Press propaganda campaign at: 

http://www.freepress.net/propaganda

-

This message was sent via www.freepress.net (/content/tellfriends). Please note 
that the sender of this message has not been verified. 24.215.254.150


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Scientists recreate virus that killed millions: World Science

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fascinating science news.


* Scientists recreate virus that killed millions:
Researchers say they have made a virus identical in
most key respects to one that killed up to 50
million people in 1918. The purpose: to protect
humanity by studying the virus.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051005_spanishflufrm.htm


* New explanation offered for cosmic mystery blasts:
One variant of the so-called gamma-ray bursts may
result from collisions between black holes and
neutron stars, astronomers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051005_gammafrm.htm


* New hope for kids with fatal "aging" syndrome:
Scientists say a drug currently in testing for
cancer might help children with a tragic condition
that makes them die by their teens -- of old age.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/050928_progeriafrm.htm


* Pathological liars found to have brain
abnormalities:
Liars have more wiring in a key part of the brain,
a study suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051002_liarsfrm.htm





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[scifinoir2] Fw: Political Humor

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
LOL!  This is a doozy!


> This is making the rounds in my circle.
>
>
> BATON ROUGE, LA. - The White House announced today that President
> Bush has
> successfully sold the state of Louisiana back to the French at more
> than double its original
> selling price of $11,250,000.
>
>  "This is a bold step forward for America," said Bush. "And America
> will be stronger and
> better as a result. I stand here today in unity with French Prime
> Minister Jack Sharaq, who
> was so kind to accept my offer of Louisiana in exchange for 25
> million dollars cash."
>
>  The state, ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, will cost hundreds of
> billions of dollars to
> rebuild.
>
>  "Jack understands full well that this one's a 'fixer upper,'" said
> Bush. "He and the French
> people are quite prepared to pump out all that water, and make
> Louisiana a decent place
> to live again. And they've got a lot of work to do. But Jack's
> assured me, if it's not right,
> they're going to fix it."
>
>  The move has been met with incredulity from the beleaguered
> residents of Louisiana.
>
>  "Shuba-pie!" said New Orleans resident Willis Babineaux.
> "Frafer-perly yum kom drabby
> sham!"
>
>  However, President Bush's decision has been widely lauded by
> Republicans.
>
>  "This is an unexpected but brilliant move by the President," said
> Senate Majority Leader
> Bill Frist. "Instead of spending billions and billions, and billions
> of dollars rebuilding the
> state of Louisiana, we've just made 25 million dollars in pure
> profit."
>
>  "This is indeed a smart move," commented Fox News analyst Brit Hume.
> "Not only have we
> stopped the flooding in our own budget, we've made money on the deal.
> Plus, when the
> god-awful French are done fixing it up, we can easily invade and take
> it back again."
>
>  The money gained from 'T'he Louisiana Refund' is expected to be
> immediately pumped
> into the rebuilding of Iraq.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Lynn's official web-site - www.sff.net/people/Lynn.Flewelling
>
> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subscribe:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Unsubscribe:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> List owner:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> URL to this page: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Flewelling
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>



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[scifinoir2] Help Me Protect Endangered Species

[Amy Harlib]

Hi!  I just sent a fax to Congress to save our vanishing wildlife at 
http://www.saveesa.org.

Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) may be on the verge of introducing recently drafted 
legislation which would tear apart protections for our endangered wildlife. If 
Rep. Pombo's bill passes, our wolves, bald eagles, sea otters, and other 
endangered animals will be at risk of extinction.

Please help me protect the Endangered Species Act today by sending a fax to 
your Representative, too. Act now at http://www.saveesa.org.

To take action on this issue, click on the link below:
https://secure2.convio.net/dow/site/Advocacy?s_oo=HPRKJbDFdOTAHWHyz_EyVQ..&id=121
If the text above does not appear as a link or it wraps across multiple lines, 
then copy and paste it into the address area of your browser.


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Iraq Dispatches: The Dark Cloud of Democracy

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Brilliant reportage you won't get from any other media!
Amy


> ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
> ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
>
>
> Here is the latest post in the 'Forum' section of my website, an
> excellent analysis of current events in Al-Anbar, written by Andrew
> Stromotich:
>
>
>
> October 08, 2005
>
>
>   *The Dark Cloud of Democracy*
>
> On Saturday morning, October 2nd, hours after the Pentagon officially
> launched ‘Operation Iron Fist’, the Associated Press reported,
>  “About 1,000
> U.S. troops, backed by attack helicopters, swarmed into a tiny Iraqi
> village near the Syrian border Saturday in an offensive aimed at rooting
> out fighters from al-Qaida in Iraq, the country’s most feared militant
> group, the military said.”
>
> Being a Syrian border town, Sadah has been a target of U.S. assaults
> before. This weekend however, was major – 1,000 troops moved on this
> little village of 2,000 men, women and children.
>
> The most sophisticated (which simply means most deadly) military in the
> world has sent 1,000 troops, backed warplanes and helicopters, to enter
> and occupy the hamlet of Sadah, and is going door to door, raiding what
> homes were left standing after the air assault, apparently hunting for
> ‘insurgents’. Although it is uncertain what they will find in Sadah,
> what they have brought is clear. Death and destruction on a massive
> scale have come to yet another town in the so-called ‘Sunni Triangle’.
>
> Troops involved in the siege on this rural enclave, were backed by
> warplanes, such as the C-130 Specter
> , which hovers over
> its target, circling and hammering those on the ground with 105 mm
> rapid-fire cannons directed by it’s sophisticated computer tracking
> systems, and helicopters such as the Apache, which has turned humans
> into mincemeat  with
> its 90 mm cannons and assortment of rockets.
>
> “Sadah is a village of about 2,000 people on the banks of the Euphrates
> River about eight miles from the Syrian border in Iraq’s western
> province of Anbar. The isolated community has one main road and about
> 200 houses scattered over a rural area,” the AP reports.
>
> However, AP does not report why the U.S. was unable to take advantage of
> Sadah’s isolation to quarantine and search this village without razing
> it (A much more humane approach to this ‘humanitarian’ mission to bring
> democracy to Iraq and its people).
>
> Other important facts about the siege also remain unreported. How long
> did this air assault last before U.S. troops entered the village? How
> many homes were destroyed? How many people were killed? How many arms
> and militants were found in this rural hamlet?
>
> The AP further reports, “U.S. forces closed off Sadah. Ammar
> Al-Marsoomi, a doctor at a hospital in Al-Qa’im, 13 miles from the
> village, said initial reports indicated that two Iraqis were wounded in
> Saturday’s assault.”
>
> Choosing a doctor in a different town (Al-Qa’im) to comment on
> casualties in what AP reports as the closed town of Sadah, is odd.
> Cities under US siege, such as Falluja
>  last year, were closed
> to all traffic while under U.S. attack. Journalist
> , aid workers
>
,
> civilians
>
,
> and casualties inclusive
>
,
> were barred from entrance or exit, making it near impossible to report
> accurately on casualties.
>
> The doctor AP relies on to register comment with respect to civilian
> casualties is said to rely on ‘initial reports’, which indicates only
> two civilians were injured during this massive assault. These figures
> are left unquestioned or explained by AP, with no mention of source of
> the report, leaving the reader with more questions than answers. Was
> this a U.S. military initial report of civilian casualties, or perhaps
> this figure relates to hospital casualty reports in Al-Qa’im, 13
> kilometers down the only road out of the closed city? In any case,
> without further explanation by AP, it becomes impossible for the reader
> to gauge the legitimacy of this claim, therefore making it unreliable at
> best, and possibly misleading.
>
> So another village in Anbar province is occupied
>  by American troops and
> their Iraqi counterparts, only weeks before a referendum on a
> constitution the U.S. is desperate to see succeed. It is a referendum
> that could fail in Anbar province and other Sunni dominated areas, as
> well

[scifinoir2] FW: Snide Humor - Thank God for our Leaders--or, A Fool's Prayer

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sarcasm that says it all!


Dear Lord,

I see hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunami, and potential flu pandemic.  I am so 
thankful, Lord, that in your wisdom, you made sure we didn't do something 
stupid like let money sit around unused, waiting for these little events.  It 
just gives me a special feeling to know that Katrina and Rita won't be taking 
funds that were earmarked for the more important holy war on terrorism. I 
shudder to think, Dear Lord,  that we might have thrown good money at saving 
poor, illiterate people in New Orleans, instead of applying it to the same in 
Iraq.  Haven't people been paying attention to the news: it's obvious the 
citizens of New Orleans are nothing but criminals and druggies who chose to 
live in a flood plain. Why supplement their degenerate lifestyles when there 
are terrorists to slay? I know You  punished them for their wicked ways, Lord, 
and that you  want us to save the heathen Muslims in the Middle East and turn 
them from their heathen Muslim ways. That's more important.  I know, Sweet God, 
that in  a democracy, it's better to let citizens ante up the funds to rebuild 
and resupply flood victims, rather than expecting governmental agencies to 
spend their time doing it. Help the misguided, O God, who are worried that we 
don't have facilities, processes, or stockpiles to battle some flu bug that may 
never happen.  I know that You will send your Archangel to protect this 
Christian nation, which You favor above all others. I know that we may lose a 
few million Americans, but if so, it will by Thy will to punish the sinners. I 
know that only sinners die in natural disasters, which are merely Thee 
stretching Thine powerful arms across this sinful firmament. 

Thank you for showing us the futility of spending  money trying to stockpile 
flu vaccines when we should be focused on killing all those insurgents that 
Saddam was obviously hiding in his basements. Lord, please send your grace to 
all those naysaying, week-kneed liberals complaining because we haven't wasted 
money on alternative fuel sources. Help them understand that the world and its 
resources were given by Thee to America to use in our Holy Causes. Open their 
eyes, O Omnipotent One, to the fact that there's plenty of oil in Alaska, which 
is mostly empty unused space anyway. And if things get bad, I know that Thou 
will instruct us to invade another sinful  country and take their oil, helping 
them in humility and compassion use their resources more effectively, as You 
intended  (are you paying attention, Chavez, you heathen?)

As I lie down to sleep every night, I pray to thee God, to remember this sinful 
world. I think on the leaders You have sent us and say "Lord, I must have done 
something to deserve this. Please tell me,  just what did I do to deserve 
leaders like this? Please let me know O Lord--I promise not to do it again!"

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[scifinoir2] Fw: 40,000 dead in Pakistan & India. Please help now

[Amy Harlib]

Pakistan India Earthquake Appeal
[EMAIL PROTECTED]








 


Saturday morning, a massive 7.6-magnitude earthquake struck parts of Pakistan 
and India. So far, at least 30,000 lives have been lost - a number that's 
expected to rise as the days go on. More than 5 million people have been 
affected by this disaster. Homes and entire villages were leveled by the 
earthquake and following aftershocks. 

CARE is assessing the situation and will bring relief to survivors as quickly 
as possible - like food, water, blankets and medicine to stave off hunger, cold 
and the outbreak of disease. But we need your help. Please give now to support 
CARE's assessment and response efforts. 

Destroyed roads and mudslides make land travel next to impossible. 
Communications outages compound the difficulty. As of Monday morning, officials 
estimated 30-40 percent of those areas affected by the quake had yet to be 
visited. 

More than 2 million people have lost everything. Women and children are 
sleeping in the open, in near-freezing temperatures - winter is fast 
approaching and they need shelter and food immediately. 

Please donate today, and send this message to anyone you think can help. 
Millions of lives depend on your assistance. 

On behalf of the people we serve, in Pakistan, India and all around the world, 
you have our sincerest gratitude. 

 

Peter D. Bell
CARE President 

P.S. Check CARE's Web site often for updates. 



Please forward this message to as many people as possible today - before it's 
too late! 








--
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preferences or unsubscribe from CARE's Online Community, please click here to 
access your personal profile page. 

  Make sure all your communications from CARE are reaching you. Add CARE to 
your trusted e-mail sender list; click here for easy, step-by-step 
instructions. 

  CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting root causes of 
poverty.   Our U.S. headquarters are at 151 Ellis Street NE, Atlanta GA, 
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[scifinoir2] In the Classification Kingdom, Only the Fittest Survive

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Fascinating essay about an important but not often discussed aspect of science.



October 11, 2005
In the Classification Kingdom, Only the Fittest Survive 
By CAROL KAESUK YOON
Carolus Linnaeus, the 18th-century botanist and father of scientific naming, 
enjoyed the unusual status of international scientific hero.

Celebrated as the creator of a classification system that brought order to the 
flood of new species being discovered, Linnaeus was revered in his native 
Sweden and was so widely admired across Europe that he became one of the most 
frequently painted figures of the 1700's. (The 515 portraits, incidentally, did 
nothing to correct his already oversized ego.)

In fact, the triumph of the Linnaean method, which uses kingdoms of life and 
two-part Latin names for species, was so complete that it seemed he had forever 
solved the problem of cataloging the world's living things.

So Linnaeus would most likely be shocked - after guessing there were fewer than 
15,000 species of animals and plants on earth - to learn that more than 200 
years later, scientists are far from finishing the naming of living things and 
are once again being overwhelmed by an explosion of new species and names.

Between 1.5 million and 2 million species have been named, and a deluge of what 
could be millions more appears imminent. 

As a result, scientists have once again been seized by 18th-century paroxysms 
of fear that the field of classification could descend into chaos with precious 
information lost. For while the Linnaean method for organizing life is still 
followed and has held up well, no one oversees what has become the rapid and 
sometimes haphazard proliferation of species names. 

Enter ZooBank, a Web-based register to compile the scientific names of all 
animal species. 

Proposed recently in the journal Nature by the International Commission on 
Zoological Nomenclature, a group of scientists in charge of the standard code 
of rules for animals, ZooBank is the latest entry in a growing field of 
contenders eager to use the Internet to take on the task of overseeing the 
naming of life and step into the limelight as the next Linnaeus.

Andrew Polaszek, the executive secretary of the commission and lead author of 
the Nature paper, says one goal of ZooBank is to create a complete list of the 
scientific names for animals, a basic necessity for scientists that, 
surprisingly, does not yet exist. 

Given that scientists have often given preferential treatment to animals over 
plants, it should come as no surprise that there is no complete database for 
all scientific plant names. Don't even bother to ask about other major groups 
like fungi or the protists (a group including slime molds and amoebas).

Only the lowly bacteria can claim a complete inventory. The numbers of species 
and specialists in the field were few enough in 1980 that the scientists could 
obliterate all names not on their single approved list and refuse to accept new 
names except those published in a certain journal. 

A major reason that no one has kept track of all the species names is the 
surprising Wild West sort of freedom that allows names to spring up pretty much 
anywhere.

Let's say a person discovers what she believes is a new species. If she 
publishes a description of the organism with her newly created name for it, by 
the internationally accepted rules of science, the name officially stands. But 
while she might publish in a carefully peer-reviewed scientific journal, she 
might also publish it, as Dr. Polaszek lamented, "in the little local journal 
that your neighbor produces in his garage."

(This is no joke. My husband, who once carefully followed butterfly taxonomy, 
recalled a journal that was published out of the basement of the self-appointed 
editor's mother. It was another perfectly legitimate, if musty, source of 
names.)

But while scientists agree that the proliferation is out of control, there is 
no consensus on who should be in control. And every new initiative has a 
different flavor and agenda. 

ZooBank, for example, proposes serving not only as a list keeper but also as 
gatekeeper, becoming the only official registry of animal names and mandating 
that all animal names receive ZooBank approval before being considered 
legitimate, ensuring that all animal names follow the rules of the nomenclature 
commission's code. 

BioCode, in contrast, proposes that botanists and zoologists each give up the 
separate parochial codes of naming they've developed and instead adopt a new 
universal BioCode, the first step in creating a single, unified registry of 
life. 

Then there's uBio, which has sidestepped the question of codes and regulations 
altogether and instead aims to record every single name ever used for any 
organism, scientific or common, correct or incorrect, down to the last 
variation and misspelling, a

[scifinoir2] Set the Iraq Agenda: Sign the Pledge

[Amy Harlib]

Hello,

The war in Iraq began two years ago, on a promise of security -- and a web of 
deception. Now the mistruths have fallen away -- and we see a presidency, and 
American prestige, sunk in a quagmire.

The cost: almost 2,000 American lives lost. Over $300 billion spent. A growing 
tab for our children and grandchildren, in the form of the largest budget 
deficit in our country's history. And for the Iraqi people, a stable democracy 
-- and peace -- remain nowhere in sight.

This is unacceptable. Take the pledge to send to Washington only those leaders 
with the courage to face the Iraq mess head-on.

http://tools.democracyforamerica.com/petition/iraqpledge/index.php?refid=605434dcd833bf80

Thank you.

-Amy
 
-- 

Sent by Amy Harlib <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>.



 Paid for by Democracy for America, www.democracyforamerica.com,
 and not authorized by any candidate.  Contributions to Democracy
 for America are not deductible for federal income tax purposes.





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[scifinoir2] Measuring the World: From Material to Ethereal

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Just plain fascinating.



October 16, 2005
Measuring the World: From Material to Ethereal 
By KENNETH CHANG
LOCKED in a vault in Paris is a cylinder about the size of a plum. Its mass is 
exactly one kilogram. It is the kilogram.

For 116 years, this cylinder made of platinum and iridium has been the world's 
defining unit of mass. It's an easy concept to understand. 

Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in 
Gaithersburg, Md., announced last month significant progress toward supplanting 
this cylinder. Their concept is not so easy to understand.

It's a two-story-tall contraption that looks one part Star Trek, one part 
Wallace and Gromit. Briefly put, it measures the power needed to generate an 
electromagnetic force that balances the gravitational pull on a kilogram of 
mass.

"It's such a very complicated thing that's hard to explain," said Richard 
Steiner, the physicist in charge of the project. He has been working on this 
"electronic kilogram" machine for more than a decade.

"That's what everybody kind of laughs at," Dr. Steiner said. "They're all 
impressed it's such a complicated thing and then they ask, 'What do you need it 
for?' "

The general answer is that humans have always needed to quantify and 
standardize, to make their world more certain. Without a standard kilogram - 
roughly 2.2 pounds - how would scientists know their measurements of mass were 
accurate? Without a standard meter, how would a manufacturer make a ruler and 
know that it is precise?

More specifically, the high-tech kilogram is needed because scientists prefer a 
definition based on the universal constants of physics - something they could 
in principle calibrate in their own laboratories - rather than on an artifact 
sitting in a distant vault. 

Another problem with the kilogram cylinder is that it is not necessarily 
unchanging. Over time, contamination might add smidgeons of mass, or cleaning 
might scrub away some atoms, leaving a lesser kilogram. Better, scientists say, 
not to have to worry about dust, dirt or disaster striking the Paris vault.

The kilogram, in fact, is decades behind the meter, which used to be defined as 
the distance between two scratches on a metal bar. In 1960, scientists defined 
the meter in terms of the wavelength of a specific orange light emitted by 
krypton atoms. In 1983, they redefined the speed of light to be exactly 
299,792,458 meters per second, so a meter is now just the distance that light 
travels in a vacuum in 1/299,792,458th of a second.

The newer definitions hark back to the original metric definitions, which were 
based on features of the natural world, not human artifacts. A kilogram was the 
mass of water filling a cube that is one-tenth of a meter on each side, or one 
liter of volume, and a meter was one ten-millionth of the distance from the 
North Pole to the Equator, along the path passing through Paris (since it was 
the French Academy of Sciences that defined the meter).

Neither definition proved practical, and the French scientists botched their 
calculation of how much the Earth is squashed by the centrifugal force of its 
rotation, so the metal bar they made to represent a meter was off by a fraction 
of a millimeter.

It is also not easy to measure precisely a liter of pure water, which is 
complicated by impurities and gases dissolved in the water and by how water 
density changes with temperature and pressure. Instead, that platinum-iridium 
cylinder was established as the official definition, in 1889.

The search for standards began with the rise of civilization. Measures were 
needed, especially for commerce. At first, people simply used parts of the 
body. A cubit, for example, was the distance from the elbow to the tip of the 
middle finger - which differed from person to person, until an Egyptian pharaoh 
declared a cubit to be the distance from his elbow to the tip of his middle 
finger (and possibly the width of his palm). 

It was hardly convenient to borrow the pharaoh's arm to measure a bolt of 
cloth, so a piece of granite was carved and declared the official cubit. Other 
people would make their own cubit rulers, usually out of wood, based on the 
granite standard. 

The same idea underlay the standards for the kilogram and the meter - a 
cylinder and a bar, respectively. "Those were not bad standards at the time," 
said John L. Hall, a scientist at the Institute of Standards and Technology and 
a winner of this year's Nobel Prize in Physics, who helped refine the 
definition of the meter two decades ago. "But they're kind of hard to duplicate 
and disseminate."

Dr. Steiner's team with its two-story contraption has now fixed the mass of a 
kilogram to 99.95 percent accuracy. To satisfy the international body that 
sets measurement standards, they probably need to raise that last "5" to an 
"8." 

As science m

[scifinoir2] Fw: Scientists Don't Sue to Gain Access to Pulpits

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]



> FYI, an interesting POV to be shared with many, especially conservative
> Christians.

I would agree with this except it annoys me no end to a fix a gender to the
vast, omnipotent, omniscient entity - the Creator or God as it were - re:
the last sentence.

>
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/columnists/leonard_pitts/1277899
> 2.htm
> Posted on Fri, Sep. 30, 2005
> IN MY OPINION
> Scientists Don't Sue to Gain Access to Pulpits
> BY LEONARD PITTS JR. ( [EMAIL PROTECTED] )
>
> The Ku Klux Klan is a terrorist group. It was organized in 1865 for the
> purpose of controlling and oppressing newly freed slaves through
> intimidation, violence and murder.
>
> Not many people will argue with that. Historians in particular will find
the
> statement uncontroversial.
>
> But 10 years ago in Vicksburg, Miss., I learned an alternate view.
Vicksburg
> was an especially stubborn stronghold of Confederate sentiment during the
> Civil War -- refused to celebrate the Fourth of July again until 1944.
Small
> wonder, then, that a museum there featured an exhibit claiming the Klan
was
> actually formed to save the South from corrupt black governments and that,
> while ''many people suffered, some no doubt innocently,'' the night riders
> sought only to "restore some semblance of decency.''
>
> It's a lie, of course, but it's a lie some of us believe. So here's the
> question: When we teach schoolchildren about the Klan, must we give equal
> time to this view? Are we required to treat it as if it has the slightest
> credibility?
>
> Or would that not be an affront to scholarship itself?
>
> EVOLUTION ON TRIAL
>
> It's science, not history, that went on trial this week in Harrisburg,
Pa.,
> but the questions still apply. Parents are squaring off in federal court
> over a local school board's requirement that before children can be taught
> Charles Darwin's theory that humanity evolved from lower animals, teachers
> must read a statement acknowledging ''alternate'' theories of human
origin.
> This would include the so-called theory of intelligent design, which holds
> that living things are so fantastically complex, they can only have been
> invented by some supernatural creator.
>
> Proponents of the policy deny they are trying to sneak religion into the
> classroom. It is, they say, a matter of free speech: Students should be
> exposed to all sides of an issue.
>
> But for that argument to hold water, you must have more than one side.
Where
> science and the theory of evolution are concerned, you do not. It is the
> overwhelming consensus of the mainstream scientific community that Darwin
> had it right. So pretending there is another ''side'' to the question
makes
> about as much sense as pretending there is another side to the Klan. It
> reeks of false equivalence, no-fault scholarship, judgment-free education,
> the bogus notion that all points of view are created equal and are equally
> deserving of respect.
>
> FAITH NOT A SCIENCE
>
> And that just ain't so.
>
> I believe in God. I believe God is the sovereign author of creation. But
> that is a matter of faith, not science. Faith, as it says in the book of
> Hebrews, is the evidence of things not seen. Science, by contrast, is
> founded upon observable phenomena. They are diametric opposites, but both
> seek the same goal: to help man and woman comprehend their lives and their
> world. To help them find answers.
>
> I would argue that faith and science are in some ways more complementary
> than contradictory. But it's telling that where they do conflict, as in
the
> question of human origin, it's always people of faith who beg for
> validation. I mean, when has any scientist ever sued for equal time in the
> pulpit? There is an unbecoming neediness about these constant schemes to
> dress religion up as science. Why are some people of faith so desperate
for
> approval from a discipline they reject?
>
> INSECURITY
>
> It suggests an insecurity that belies the bellicose battle cry of Bible
> literalists: ''God said it. I believe it. That settles it.'' Or in the
words
> of a church sign as related to me last week by a minister in Maine: Reason
> is the enemy of faith.
>
> That's a sad, troubling and even pathetic mind-set.
>
> We inhabit a universe vaster than human comprehension, older than human
> wanderings, more wondrous than human conception. And in the face of that,
we
> do the natural thing. We ask questions and seek answers.
>
> That's not a denial of God. It is evidence of Him.
> -0-
>
>
>



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[scifinoir2] Stop Corporate Radio Payola

[Amy Harlib]

Tired of hearing the same corporate music every time you switch on the radio? 
Sign our letter demanding that the FCC investigate broadcasters who are 
destroying radio with payola. It only takes a moment. Visit 
http://www.freepress.net/action/petition.php?n=fccpayola

For more info visit http://www.freepress.net/payola


-

This message was sent via www.freepress.net (/content/tellfriends). Please note 
that the sender of this message has not been verified. 24.215.254.150


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Building a Better Rocket Engine

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Gosh darn interesting!


NASA Science News for October 14, 2005
Engineers have found a way to boost the performance of liquid fueled rockets. 
The secret is in the plumbing.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/14oct_betterrocket.htm?list86684

Vote for the [EMAIL PROTECTED] podcast at 
http://www.podcastalley.com/one_vote2.php?pod_id=825 
To find out more, read http://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htm 


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Looking for great, progressive movies...

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]



 
  

 
  Looking for great, progressive movies? 
  Dear Activist,  

  Do you love to watch movies, but struggle to find what you want at the 
local megaplex or video store?   Let's face it, the huge multi-national 
corporations that are cranking out the Hollywood "hits" aren't making movies 
for folks like us. 

  Well, our friends at Ironweed, the new progressive film club, have a 
solution for progressives looking for quality, independent films. We're proud 
to be able to give Democrats.com members the first opportunity to be charter 
members of this fun new effort to take back the media. 

  The idea is simple: sign up for the club and every month you'll get a DVD 
in the mail that contains an award-winning feature film, a short film, and free 
extras. 

  SUBSCRIBE NOW and get a special offer available to Democrats.com members 
and subscribers - a FREE TRIAL MONTH for the cost of shipping (just $2.95) and 
then only $14.95 a month thereafter.

  The films are yours to keep - add them to your library, show them to your 
friends, or pass them on. If you don't think the films are great, you can 
cancel with no hassles. 

  What kind of films do you get?   Films like Power Trip, the tragicomic 
film that follows an American company that buys the energy system in the former 
Soviet Republic of Georgia and sends two bungling Americans to make the 
Georgians pay for power. The film won the Berlin Film Festival, but you can't 
see it anywhere except through Ironweed. 

  Or Wetback, the touching award-winner that follows two friends who leave 
Nicaragua to find their fortune and experience the untold story of American 
immigration as they face the vigilante Minutemen on the Arizona border. 

  Ironweed scours the world's best festivals and critics' circles to 
promote the "underdog films" that audiences love but the major Hollywood 
studios avoid. With your support, we can push these films - these powerful 
weeds that are so often ignored - into mainstream distribution. And Ironweed 
gives you the chance to join a local film club, or, start your own. 

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[scifinoir2] Hunting Habits of Wolves Change Ecological Balance in Yellowstone

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Beautiful example of the interconnectedness of the ecosystem.





October 18, 2005
Hunting Habits of Wolves Change Ecological Balance in Yellowstone 
By JIM ROBBINS
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - Hiking along the small, purling Blacktail 
Deer Creek, Douglas W. Smith, a wolf biologist, makes his way through a lush 
curtain of willows. 

Nearly absent for decades, willows have roared back to life in Yellowstone, and 
the reason, Mr. Smith believes, is that 10 years after wolves were introduced 
to Yellowstone, the park is full of them, dispersed across 13 packs. 

He says the wolves have changed the park's ecology in many ways; for one, they 
have scared the elk to high ground and away from browsing on every willow shoot 
by rivers and streams.

"Wolves have caused a trophic cascade," he said.

"Wolves are at the top of it all here. They change the conditions for everyone 
else, including willows." 

The last 10 years in Yellowstone have re-written the book on wolf biology. 
Wildlife biologists and ecologists are stunned by the changes they have seen. 

It is a rare chance to understand in detail how the effects of an "apex 
predator" ripple through an ecosystem. Much of what has taken place is 
recounted in the recently released book "Decade of the Wolf: Returning the Wild 
to Yellowstone," by Mr. Smith and Gary Ferguson. (Mr. Smith will discuss the 
effects at 7 tonight in the Linder Theater at the American Museum of Natural 
History. Admission is $15.)

In 1995, 14 wolves from Canada were brought into the park by truck and sleigh 
in the dead of winter, held in a cage for 10 weeks and released. Seventeen were 
added in 1996. Now, about 130 wolves in 13 packs roam the park. 

Yellowstone, says Mr. Smith, is full. 

Over the next 10 years, elk numbers dropped considerably. One of the world's 
largest elk herds, which feeds on rich grasses on the northern range of the 
park, dropped from 19,000 in 1994 to about 11,000. Wolf reintroduction has been 
cited as the culprit by hunters, but Mr. Smith says the cause is more complex.

Data recently released after three years of study by the Park Service, the 
United States Geological Survey and the University of Minnesota found that 53 
percent of elk deaths were caused by grizzly bears that eat calves. Just 13 
percent were linked to wolves and 11 percent to coyotes. Drought also playing a 
role. The study is continuing.

Scientists do say that wolf predation has been significant enough to 
redistribute the elk. That has in turn affected vegetation and a variety of 
wildlife. 

The elk had not seen wolves since the 1920's when they disappeared from the 
park. Over the last 10 years, as they have been hunted by wolf packs, they have 
grown more vigilant. 

They move more than they used to, and spend most of their time in places that 
afford a 360-degree view, said Mr. Smith. They do not spend time in places 
where they do not feel secure - near a rise or a bluff, places that could 
conceal wolves. 

In those places willow thickets, and cottonwoods have bounced back. Aspen 
stands are also being rejuvenated. Until recently the only cottonwood trees in 
the park were 70 to 100 years old. Now large numbers of saplings are sprouting. 

William Ripple, a professor of botany at Oregon State University, calls the 
process the "ecology of fear," which has allowed the vegetation to thrive as a 
result of behavioral changes in the newly skittish and peripatetic elk.

Though the changes now are on a fairly small scale, the effects of the wolves 
will spread, and in 30 years, according to Mr. Smith, Yellowstone will look 
very different. 

Not everyone is convinced. "Wolves have a role to play," said Robert Crabtree, 
a canid biologist who has researched wolves and coyotes in the park since the 
late 1980's. "But the research has ignored climate change and flooding, which 
have also had an effect on vegetation. Their work isn't wrong, but it's 
incomplete." 

Where willows and cottonwoods have returned, they stabilize the banks of 
streams and provide shade, which lowers the water temperature and makes the 
habitat better for trout, resulting in more and bigger fish. Songbirds like the 
yellow warbler and Lincoln sparrow have increased where new vegetation stands 
are thriving. 

Willow and aspen, food for beaver, have brought them back to the streams and 
rivers on the northern range. In 1996, there was one beaver dam on the northern 
range; now there are 10. 

The number of wolves has also greatly increased the amount of meat on the 
ground to the benefit of other species. 

Grizzlies and coyotes rarely kill adult elk, but each pack of wolves kills an 
elk every two or three days. After they eat their fill, other carnivores take 
over the carcass. Opportunistic scavengers like magpies and ravens make a 
living on the carcasses. 

The number of coyotes, on the other hand, h

[scifinoir2] 'Environmental Conscience' Urges Canadians to Tread Softly

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 One of my heroes has wisdom to offer not just Canada, but the whole world and 
especially the worst-offending USA.



October 18, 2005
Scientist at Work | David Suzuki
'Environmental Conscience' Urges Canadians to Tread Softly 
By CORNELIA DEAN
When Prince Charles asked David Suzuki a few years ago about the state of the 
environment, Dr. Suzuki told him, "We are in a big car heading at a brick wall 
at 100 miles an hour." The assessment he offered to the Harvard Medical School 
Center for Health and the Global Environment last month was just as gloomy. "We 
are going right down the chute," he said.

Dr. Suzuki, a zoologist turned environmental activist, has been sounding this 
alarm for years - in books, on television and radio, in newspaper columns and 
in coast-to-coast campaigns in his native Canada. He has "seeped into the minds 
of virtually every one of the 31 million Canadians," said Joseph R. Foy, 
campaign director for the Western Canada Wilderness Committee, a conservation 
group. "He is the environmental conscience of the people."

His effects reach beyond Canada. Dr. Eric S. Chivian, a psychiatrist who 
directs the Harvard center where Dr. Suzuki spoke last month, said he became "a 
Suzuki groupie" about 20 years ago when he heard him speak.

"Here was a senior scientist who had decided that the most important thing he 
could do with his career was to translate the abstract, technical language of 
science - especially the science of those issues that constituted the greatest 
threats to human life - into terms the average person could understand," Dr. 
Chivian said. "There are very few in the scientific world who have David's gift 
for doing this, and there are still fewer who communicate with such directness."

He appears routinely at or near the top of lists of the most admired, liked or 
influential Canadians. More than 150,000 people have signed up so far for the 
"David Suzuki Nature Challenge," promising to take the simple steps he 
recommends to lighten their collective footprint on the environment. 

When the novelist Margaret Atwood won the 2000 Booker Prize, she said, she gave 
a "substantial portion" of the approximately $30,000 prize to the David Suzuki 
Foundation (www.davidsuzuki.org), which Dr. Suzuki established in 1989 to 
analyze and find environmental solutions.

And when Jean Chrétien, then the prime minister, signed Canada on to the Kyoto 
Protocol on greenhouse gases, he credited Dr. Suzuki and his foundation for 
building support among Canadians. 

Kyoto was "a winning hand" for Mr. Chrétien because 80 percent of Canadians 
favored it, even in oil-producing areas, said David Anderson, who was Mr. 
Chrétien's environment minister. "David Suzuki was very important in that 
regard. He has clout, he has a strong following and he is a genuine scientist." 

These days, Dr. Suzuki worries most about how people have become estranged from 
nature, habituated to seeing the world "through a fragmented lens," as he puts 
it, and oblivious to the fact that the economic abundance of the modern world 
depends on the health of its air, soil and water. 

"Even though Canada has a lot of wilderness, 85 percent of us live in cities," 
he said. "We don't understand ecosystems."

He makes this point with anecdotes and examples anyone can understand. For 
example, he recalled, when he wanted to do a television program about air 
pollution, he waited for a smog alert day and took a film crew to a hospital 
emergency room. "It was packed with old people and children," he said. "What 
blew us away was how many of these people were being driven to the hospital in 
an S.U.V. Because they live in a shattered world, it never occurs to them that 
the way they live is creating the problem." 

Dr. Suzuki said he used to urge people to think globally, act locally. "That 
was a mistake," he says today. "When people think globally, they feel 
helpless." 

Instead, his Nature Challenge outlines 10 simple steps - like eating meatless 
meals one day a week or using nontoxic lawn products - and urges Canadians to 
commit to three of them. 

He hopes a million Canadians will sign on. "If we can do that, we can get 
anyone in business and politics to sign on," he said. Some environmentalists 
resent the attention Dr. Suzuki receives and some scientists criticize him as 
having abandoned the purity of the laboratory for the hurly-burly of politics. 

Others, citing the music he favors on his television program, his advocacy of 
Native American causes and his affection for whales, dismiss him as being too 
much in the New Age. 

"There is a certain amount of sniffiness on the part of academic scientists who 
feel he is not as rigorous as he should be," said Mr. Anderson, who today 
represents Victoria, British Columbia, in Parliament. 

But the sniffers are in the minority.

Dr. Suzuki's influence is more remarkab

[scifinoir2] Observatory - Spider Likes Its Meals Rare

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yummy science news tidbits. 




October 18, 2005
Observatory
Spider Likes Its Meals Rare 
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
Jumping spiders are the big cats of the arachnid world, stalking their prey 
like mountain lions and pouncing when it gets close. The spiders are aided in 
their hunting by keen vision, with four pairs of eyes.

Among the roughly 5,000 species of jumping spiders, an East African one stands 
out for its discriminating taste in prey. Researchers have discovered that the 
spider, Evarcha culicivora, which is less than half an inch long, has a 
penchant for mosquitoes that have recently gorged on blood. The spiders cannot 
pierce the skin of a person or animal to get blood on their own, so they obtain 
it indirectly, and let the mosquitoes do the dirty work for them.

The spiders are found in mud houses in parts of Kenya and Uganda that border 
Lake Victoria. Those houses tend to be very dark, said one of the researchers, 
Ximena J. Nelson of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and jumping 
spiders need a lot of light to see. "That leads to the question of why they are 
here," Dr. Nelson said. "There must be some kind of prey that's of interest to 
them."

The prey, she and her colleagues found, are the mosquitoes that are ubiquitous 
in the region (including Anopheles gambiae, a major transmitter of malaria). In 
their experiments, described in The Proceedings of the National Academy of 
Sciences, the researchers found that the spiders chose female mosquitoes that 
had recently had a meal of blood over females that had been fed sugar, males 
(which do not eat blood) and midges and other insects.

Dr. Nelson said the spiders chose their prey based on odor and on size - 
juvenile spiders chose smaller mosquitoes, and adult spiders picked larger 
ones. "But the presence of blood overrides size preference," she said.

Once it chooses its prey, the spider jumps on it and injects a paralyzing venom 
followed by digestive enzymes. Then the spider sucks up the fluids. Juvenile 
spiders, which are far smaller than the mosquitoes, jump on their victims from 
underneath; then they hold on for dear life while the insect flies around for a 
minute or so until the venom takes effect.

It is unclear why the spiders have adapted to eating blood. Dr. Nelson said 
this is the first case in which a member of the animal kingdom chooses prey 
based on what the prey has eaten. "The only other possibility might be humans," 
she said. "I guess we feed our cows things to make them taste better."

The Question on Comets

Dirty ice ball or icy dirt ball? For scientists who study comets, that is 
perhaps the question. Are comets largely frozen water and carbon dioxide with 
some rock and dust mixed in, or mostly rubble, peppered with ice? Since comets 
are believed to have lingered since the dawn of the solar system, their 
composition offers clues to conditions back then.

The dirty ice ball theory had been favored by many scientists since it was 
first proposed more than half a century ago. But some recent evidence has 
suggested that comets may be more dirt than ice.

The latest finding to point in that direction comes from the Deep Impact 
mission, a NASA spacecraft that slammed an 800-pound projectile into the comet 
Tempel 1 on July 4. The impact was observed by instruments all over the world 
and in space, including an array of cameras aboard a European Space Agency 
spacecraft, Rosetta, that is on its way to another comet.

A team of scientists from many European institutions has analyzed the Rosetta 
data and concluded that while the impact produced a shower of water vapor, it 
probably produced more dust. Their findings are reported in the journal Nature.

A spectroscopic camera on Rosetta was used to determine the amount of water 
released, by measuring hydroxyl radicals, which are produced as light from the 
sun breaks down the water molecules. An optical camera was used to measure the 
dust. 

The dust measurements are a bit iffier - the researchers had to make certain 
assumptions about the size of the particles, for instance - so the data do not 
conclusively prove that comets are more dirt ball than ice ball. Rosetta's own 
probe may settle the issue in nine years, when it is scheduled to land on the 
comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Protein Study a Bit of a Stretch

The secret behind the remarkable jumping ability of fleas is a highly elastic 
polymerized protein called resilin. A pad of resilin between the flea's leg and 
its body stretches like a bow string, storing energy. 

When the energy is released the leg opens rapidly, catapulting the flea into 
the air.

Resilin, a polymer, is found in crickets, all kinds of flies and many other 
insects, as well. And now it has been synthesized in a lab by Australian 
scientists. The artificial resilin, they write in Nature, may someday prove to 
be a useful biomateri

[scifinoir2] Fw: Great News! FEMA Responds to Our Call to Extend the Deadline

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Once in a while we get a little bit of good news!


   


FEMA Extends the Deadline!

Messages from 7,500 of you helped make it happen.

You can support our continued work on hurricane-related issues and 
other efforts by contributing today.
   
  Dear Amy,



  On Saturday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) extended the 
deadline for victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to apply for disaster 
assistance until January 11, 2006. Read the FEMA press release here.

  Thanks to the more than 7,500 of you who sent a message to FEMA through 
ExtendTheDeadline.org! Your grassroots efforts made a big difference.

  For the millions of Americans who were victims of the hurricanes, this 
decision by FEMA comes as great news.  Now these families can focus on their 
immediate needs without having to worry about losing out on federal aid to 
which they are entitled. According to the most recent figures from FEMA, 
hurricane victims are continuing to apply for benefits at a rate of almost 
20,000 applications per day.  Had FEMA not done the right thing and extended 
the deadline, it is clear that tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people 
would have lost out.

  FEMA, and the federal government more broadly, has taken a lot of 
well-deserved criticism for the failures in its disaster response.  We want to 
take this moment to thank FEMA for doing something right.

  In the weeks ahead we'll continue to keep our eyes on the federal 
response to the hurricanes - and we'll keep you up to date on developments.  
You can always get our latest analysis on a whole host of issues by visiting 
our blog: ThinkProgress.org.

  ExtendtheDeadline.org is a campaign of the American Progress Action Fund. 
 To organize this campaign and others, we rely on your grassroots support. 
Please consider making a contribution today to support our efforts.

  Click here to contribute now.

  Thank you for your support,
  Brian Komar and the entire Extend the Deadline team

  


The American Progress Action Fund is the sister advocacy 
organization of the Center for American Progress. The Action Fund transforms 
progressive ideas into policy through rapid response communications, 
legislative action, grassroots organizing and advocacy, and partnerships with 
other progressive leaders throughout the country and the world. The Action Fund 
is also the home of the Progress Report.

To learn more, visit www.americanprogressaction.org.
   


ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, 
is the nation's largest community organization of low- and moderate-income 
families, working together for social justice and stronger communities.  Since 
1970, ACORN has grown to more than 175,000 member families, organized in 850 
neighborhood chapters in 75 cities across the U.S. and in cities in Canada, 
Mexico, and Peru. ACORN has been on the ground helping Katrina and Rita victims 
put their lives back together.

To learn more, visit www.ACORN.org.
 
   
 


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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Violent dreams and evolution

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Love these World Science articles!


* Violent dreams could answer evolutionary 
questions, researchers say:
A bizarre disorder in which sleepers act out dreams 
of combat might help explain how dreaming evolved.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/051018_dreamfrm.htm


* "Popping rocks" mystery solved:
Researchers say they have rediscovered a site where 
rocks brought up off the ocean floor explode with 
trapped gases.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051018_poprocksfrm.htm


* How astronomy could help save the whale shark:
Software developed by astronomers to find stars can 
help monitor the world's biggest fish, using its 
starry skin patterns, researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051018_whalesharkfrm.htm


* Common spice found to halt breast cancer spread in 
mice:
Curcumin, which gives curry its mustard-yellow 
color, inhibits the spread of breast cancer in mice,
researchers report.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051015_curcuminfrm.htm


* Good news for pot smokers:
Contrary to popular belief, marijuana helps grow 
new brain cells, a study suggests. A separate study 
reports pot smoke is less carcinogenic than 
cigarette smoke.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051018_potfrm.htm


* Science in images: Gorgeous aurora
Auroras, also known as the Northern and Southern 
Lights, form when solar particles and magnetic 
fields hit the Earth's magnetic field.

http://www.world-science.net




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subscription, please reply to this email address 
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[scifinoir2] Introduction to Imaro!

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
With Charles Saunders' permission, I am sharing the introduction by noted 
mythic fiction scriber Charles de Lint to the new, revised, reprinted IMARO - 
first volume of the Afrocentric epic fantasy novel series relaunch.  I hope 
this will spur interest and sales for this very worthy and exciting genre 
publishing project.
Getting "big name " writer Charles de Lint to endorse the endeavor is quite the 
coup!
Ecstatic Cheers!
Amy

Introduction 

 

It's hard to believe that it's been 24 years since DAW Books 
published the first Imaro novel (though of course, Imaro stories had already 
been appearing in small press magazines for at least a decade before that).  
What I find harder to believe is that, in all that time, there have been so few 
fantasy novels based on the rich and fascinating cultures and mythic matter of 
Africa.

But I'm not surprised that no one has yet come close to bringing it 
to life so well as Charles R. Saunders.

*   *   *

Like many of us working in the small press at the time, Charles was 
inspired by the work of Robert E. Howard when he first began to write.  But 
while Howard was, and Charles is, a born storyteller, that's pretty much where 
the similarities end.

"The trouble is,"  he used to tell me in those days, "is that there 
are so few black characters in fantasy or sf who actually matter."

So Charles started creating them--not so much to provide character 
identification for other black readers as that this was a way he could "read" 
these kinds of stories himself.  And in the process he discovered an abiding 
love for the cultures, traditions and mythological matter of Africa that 
continues to this day.

The first thing he understood was that there is no "African" 
culture.  Like the tribes of the North American Indian (who are also lumped 
together in many people's minds as having only one culture), the peoples of 
Africa are part of a wide spectrum of cultural identities as rich and diverse 
as that of any of the world's other continents.  From Yoruba creation myths to 
Anansi trickster tales, from the Dogon temples of Mali to the palaces of 
sultans on the Swahili coast, from the Masaai tribes of the Serengeti to the 
pygmy bushmen of the Kalahari--Africa has enough cultural, historical and 
mythological wealth to fuel the stories of a thousand writers.

Charles delved into this material, mixed it with a brew distilled 
from what he learned reading the heroic fantasies of Howard, Fritz Leiber, and 
other classic masters of the field, then put his own inimitable stamp upon it 
all to create the world of Imaro and the characters that inhabit it.  Bandits 
and warriors, priests and strange monsters, loyal retainers and back-stabbing 
traitors.  

And towering above them all, is the character of Imaro 
himself--still a youth when we meet him in the book you're about to read, 
headstrong, and certainly out of his depth at times, but already a man, willing 
to grow and learn.  A warrior who seeks peace.  An outsider who has been denied 
the companionship of family and tribe, and so has to create his own.

I've never understood why these books have languished out of print 
for so many years.  For me they rank at the very top of the field, not simply 
because the storytelling is so immediate and absorbing, but for the fresh 
wealth of culture and myth to be found in their pages, and the sharp insights 
into the human spirit that Charles brings to each character.

I know why the initial DAW sales stalled and died--that's simply 
the vagaries of the publishing field.  By the time the second book came out, 
the first was no longer in print, so any reader who wasn't there at the 
beginning (snatching up a copy from that initial small print run), could either 
enter Imaro's world in what felt like the middle of the story, or turn to some 
other series where they were able to buy the first book.

Unfortunately, most people don't like missing the beginning, and so 
the series floundered.

Their loss, you might say to those folks.  But it was our loss, 
too, because the Imaro's full story was never completed at DAW, and to all 
intents and purposes, Charles vanished from the fantasy field.

But he never stopped writing.  He simply turned to writing about 
other things.

Moving from Ottawa, Ontario, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the 
eighties, he wrote copy, columns and op-ed pieces for the local papers there.  
He published a number of non-fiction books: Africville: A Spirit That Lives On 
(1989) to accompany an exhibition relating the history of that indomitable 
Halifax community, leveled by the local government under the guise of 
"progress"; Share and Care: The Story of the Nova Scotia Home for Colored 
Children (1994), a superb history of the neglected and unwanted children of 
Nova Sco

[scifinoir2] Fw: How to respond to everyday bigotry

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
This is excellent!  Spread far and wide!


FYI. Almost everyone on this has encountered
bigotry during our lives. How best to respond to it?
You may find the article below and the downloadable
"Speak Up" PDF document both helpful with some useful
tools, strategies, and words you can use. The *Speak
Up PDF document* is one of the best I've read. It
speaks to what you can do at home, at work, in the
neighborhood, at school, at the supermarket or retail
store, for your children, and with in-laws.

- - - - - - - -
http://www.tolerance.org/speakup/
Your brother routinely makes anti-Semitic comments.
Your neighbor uses the N-word in casual conversation.
Your co-worker ribs you about your Italian surname,
asking if you're in the mafia. Your classmate insults
something by saying, "That's so gay."

And you stand there, in silence, thinking, "What can I
say in response to that?" Or you laugh along,
uncomfortably. Or, frustrated or angry, you walk away
without saying anything, thinking later, "I should
have said something."

In the spring of 2004, the Southern Poverty Law Center
gathered hundreds of stories of everyday bigotry like
these from people across the United States. They told
their stories through e-mail,
personal interviews and at roundtable discussions in
four cities: Baltimore, Md.; Columbia, S.C.; Phoenix,
Ariz.; and Vancouver, Wash.

People spoke about encounters in stores and
restaurants, on streets and in schools. They spoke
about family, friends, classmates and co-workers. They
told us what they did or didn't say - and what they
wished they did or didn't say.

And no matter the location or relationship, the
stories echo each other.

When a Native American man at one roundtable
discussion spoke of feeling ostracized at work, a
Jewish woman nodded in support. When an African
American woman told of daily indignities of racism at
school, a white man leaned forward and asked what he
could do to help. When an elderly lesbian spoke of
finally feeling brave enough to wear a rainbow pin in
public, those around the table applauded her courage.

Speak Up! echoes that applause, encouraging everyone
to take a stand against everyday bigotry.
-0-






 

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[scifinoir2] Fw:Darfur - Weekly News and Action Update

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]


Weekly News and Action Update - October 20, 2005

Action Items:

60 Seconds of Action:  As you will see below in this week's news summary, the 
Bush Administration has granted the Sudanese government two favors in the past 
week, despite Sudan's refusal to live up to its responsibility to disband the 
murderous Janjaweed militias.  Don't let them get away with this all-carrot, 
no-stick approach to the perpetrators of genocide!  Please take a minute and 
click here to email the President and here to email the Secretary of State and 
let them know that you're paying attention to what the U.S. is doing in Sudan. 

60 Minutes of Action:  As most of you are no doubt aware, talk radio has become 
one of the most important sources of news and opinions for millions of 
Americans.  Whether you love it or hate it, no one can deny the power of 
political talk radio.  With just a little effort, you can harness that power 
for the people of Darfur by calling in and letting listeners know what you 
think about the latest U.S. actions regarding Sudan.  While you will likely 
have to call a number of times before you get through, those few seconds or 
minutes you're on the air are well worth the time and effort.  As you will 
first speak to a call screener whose job it is to pick interesting and topical 
callers, try to tie your comments on Darfur to any discussion of President 
Bush, Congress or foreign policy that has taken place during the show.  You can 
find up to date news to talk about below or on our website.  If you're not 
already a talk radio listener, click here for a list of stations in your area. 

This week in Sudan:

A lasting peace in Darfur seems an increasingly distant reality after a week 
which saw several political and diplomatic setbacks.  The first came on 
Thursday, October 13, when the United Nations pulled all non-essential 
personnel out of all of west Darfur due to concerns for their safety. [Link To 
Article]  The move comes just seven months after UN staff in outlying areas of 
west Darfur were confined to the regional capital of Geneina where it was 
thought that they would be safe.  The recent dramatic increase in violence has 
unfortunately proven that assumption false.  

The UN's decision was followed by what most consider to be two 
counter-productive events here in America.  Specifically, the Bush 
Administration upgraded Sudan's international slavery rating to Tier 2 status, 
putting them on the same level as Switzerland in terms of their efforts to 
combat slavery.  Despite this upgrade, slavery continues to be a very real 
problem in Sudan. Administration officials attributed the change in status to 
an unspecified plan to increase their efforts to fight slavery over the next 12 
months. [Link To Article]

The Administration has also this week issued the Sudanese government a special 
waiver allowing them to hire a Washington lobbyist to improve their public 
image and fight any legislation they deem as hostile.  Several Members of 
Congress, including Virginia Republican Frank Wolf, have expressed their 
outrage that Sudan would be allowed to hire lobbyists here in the U.S. while 
they continue to aid the Janjaweed militias in Darfur. [Link To Article]

Not all in the U.S. government took steps in the wrong direction this week, 
however.  Wednesday, October 19 saw the formation of the Congressional Sudan 
Caucus, a working group of lawmakers dedicated to finding ways to solve the 
difficult problems posed by the ongoing conflict in Sudan.  The inaugural 
meeting, held in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, included 
speeches from several Members of Congress and from renowned Sudan expert Dr. 
Francis Deng. [Link To Article]

Back in Africa, the sixth round of peace talks taking place in Abuja, Nigeria 
unfortunately seem to have come to a dead end for the moment, with all parties 
agreeing to adjourn for a month and resume talks on November 20. [Link To 
Article]  Despite these recent setbacks on both sides of the Atlantic, the 
outpouring of support from concerned citizens, as evidenced by Tuesday's 
National Call-In Day for Darfur, gives everyone reasons for hope.  

For additional information on any of these stories, either click on the links 
embedded in the above paragraphs, or scroll to a list of the articles below.  
In addition, a more complete list of articles on Darfur is available below, and 
here on our website, updated daily.  You may also request daily email news 
updates with the days top articles by emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED]


Articles Referenced Above:

U.N. Nonessential Staff Out of West Darfur
Washington Post - 10/13/05

U.S. Government's Elevation of Sudan's Slavery Status Challenged
U.S. Newswire - 10/17/05

Wolf Critical of Lobbyist Representing Government of Sudan
Rep. Frank Wolf, Press Release - 10/17/05

U.S. Congress inaugurates "Sudan Caucus"
Sudan Tribune - 10/20/05

Sudan's Darfur peace talks to adjourn to Nove

[scifinoir2] Fw: Congo Documentary: Release starts this Friday, Oct 21 in NYC

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
SEE THIS IF YOU CAN!


  
 Wednesday, 19 October 2005  
 
  WHAT: CONGO: WHITE KING, RED RUBBER, BLACK DEATH 

  WHEN: October 21 - October 27, 2005 

  WHERE: THE QUAD CINEMA
  34 West 13th Street
  Trains 1,2,3,F,A,C,E,L,N,R,4,5 or 6 

  SHOWTIMES: 1:00pm; 2:55pm; 4:50pm; 6:40pm; 8:30pm & 10:15pm

  PRICE: $10 

  TICKETS: Box Office: (212) 255-8800 or online at www.MOVIEFONE.COM 



  CONGO: WHITE KING, RED RUBBER, BLACK DEATH
  Belgium/UK, 2003, 84min, documentary in English, Peter Bate, dir. 

  This true, shocking, astonishing story of what the Belgians did in the 
Congo was forgotten for over 50 years. Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black 
Death describes Leopold II, King of the Belgium's private colony of the Congo 
between 1885 and 1908 as a gulag labor camp of shocking brutality. Leopold 
posed as the protector of Africans fleeing Arab slave-traders but, in reality, 
he carved out an empire based on terror to harvest rubber. Families were held 
as hostages, starving to death if the men failed to produce enough wild rubber. 
Children's hands were chopped off as punishment for late deliveries. The 
Belgian government has denounced this documentary as a "tendentious diatribe" 
for depicting King Leopold II as the moral forebear of Adolf Hitler, 
responsible for the death of 10 million people in his rapacious exploitation of 
the Congo. Yet, it is agreed today that the first Human Rights movement was 
spurred by what happened in the Congo.

  "Nick Fraser's commanding narration lends real punch to Bate's 
tough-minded text [in this] stunning indictment of Belgium's brutal 
colonization of the Congo in the late 19th century." ~ Robert Koehler, Variety 

  "To realize that 10 million African people lost their lives there is 
equivalent to genocide. We need to understand more about the horrors of 
colonialism. and that evil is still with us today. People need to see it [to 
understand] the contemporary context for what is happening today." ~ Nellie 
Bailey, President of the Harlem Tenants Council 
 
  
© Copyright 2005 ArtMattan Productions. All Rights Reserved.| To 
unsubscribe, please click here, or send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with 
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[scifinoir2] It's not too late to save the Arctic Refuge!

[Amy Harlib]

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is under attack and we don't
have a minute to spare. Your help is needed right now to stop
oil drilling in the Arctic Refuge before it's too late.

Click here to take action:
http://ga1.org/campaign/arctic_vote?source=200510_adv_arcvir

As you read this, the oil industry's allies in Congress are on
the verge of opening the Arctic Refuge to drilling. Never before
has the threat been so huge or the vote so final. Unless we stop
it, this world-class wilderness will become a vast oil
development field.

Some members of Congress are trying to exploit the aftermath of
hurricane Katrina to push their plans to drill America's Arctic
Refuge through the federal budget process. The desperate
campaign by these politicians to paint Arctic Refuge drilling as
the answer to America's energy problems is cynical and
misleading. 

It's not too late to save the Arctic Refuge, but we must act
right now! Click below to tell your members of Congress to do
everything in their power to keep the Arctic Refuge free of oil
drilling:
http://ga1.org/campaign/arctic_vote?source=200510_adv_arcvir

This incomparable wilderness is habitat to more than 250 animal
species, including wolves, grizzlies, caribou and millions of
migrating birds. With your help, we can protect this precious
place for future generations.

Thank you for your help!


More Ways to Raise a Ruckus for the Arctic
http://ga1.org/wilderness/arctic_domore.html

http://ga1.org/campaign/arctic_vote?rk=N71NMSd1Xu-xW

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[scifinoir2] Tell 'Intelligent Design' Clients They Have Support

[Amy Harlib]

ACLU: American Civil Liberties Union
Protect Religious Freedom from 'Intelligent Design':
Send a Message of Solidarity






Click here to view a printable version of this message.
http://action.aclu.org/site/Ecard?tl_id=-zlYm_Z8Xdw0Bw_FI7-dwQ.&s_oo=rpmKAtR32fpMH49UB9QMkQ..&s_tlid=62352
 .





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Re: [scifinoir2] TYSON FOODS BOYCOTT

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Wow!   Hurricane Katrina aftermath and Bennett's comments and this!  When will 
"they" ever learn!!??
Being a vegetarian I have already been boycotting Tyson Foods forever.
Outraged Amy
  Subject: [scifinoir2] TYSON FOODS BOYCOTT



  TYSON FOODS SUED FOR RACE BIAS AND RETALIATION AGAINST BLACKS; ‘WHITES ONLY'  
  RESTROOM AT ISSUE

  Rare EEOC Case for Segregated Job Facilities In Deep  South 
  BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – After complaining to Tyson Foods, Inc. about the posting  
  of a "Whites Only" sign on one of Tyson's restrooms at its Ashland, Alabama,  
  facility, two black employees were subjected to adverse personnel actions by  
  Tyson management, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)  
  alleges in a discrimination lawsuit announced today. 
  The EEOC's suit, EEOC v. Tyson Foods, Inc., CV-05-BE-1704-E (U.S.  District 
  Court for the Northern District of Alabama), alleges that Tyson's  violated 
  Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against  Henry 
Adams, 
  Leon Walker, and other black employees, by establishing and  maintaining a 
  locked bathroom facility, which on occasion had signs posted on it  stating 
"Out 
  of Order" and "Whites Only". Keys to the facility were distributed  to white 
  employees only. After Mr. Adams and Mr. Walker complained of the  segregated 
  facility, management subjected them to adverse employment actions,  including 
  suspensions and disciplinary write-ups. 
  "This year the Commission is celebrating its fortieth anniversary," said  
  Bernice Williams-Kimbrough, District Director of the EEOC's Birmingham 
District  
  Office. "While this country has made great strides in addressing issues of  
  racism, unfortunately there are still people who have not yet gotten the 
message 
  that segregation in the workplace will not be tolerated. The EEOC exists to 
  make  certain that the promise of equal opportunity in employment extends not 
  only to  access to jobs but to equal treatment on those jobs." 
  The EEOC filed suit only after attempting to reach a voluntary pre-litigation 
  settlement through its conciliation process. The suit seeks injunctive 
  relief,  and compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of Henry Adams, Leon 
  Walker, and  the class of black employees. 
  "A company's commitment to equal opportunity is measured by more than the  
  existence of written policies and diversity training," said Charles E. 
Guerrier, 
  Regional Attorney for the EEOC's Birmingham District Office. "True 
  commitment is  measured by the environment in which employees work and their 
  understanding of  what equal opportunity means on a day-to-day, one-on-one 
basis. When 
  an employee  feels free to lock a bathroom facility and to post a ‘Whites 
Only' 
  sign on it,  even for one day, that employer has not been effective in 
  delivering the message  of equal opportunity to its employees." 
  According to its web site _www.tysonfoodsinc.com_ 
  (http://www.eeoc.gov/press/www.tysonfoodsinc.com) :  "Tyson Foods, Inc., 
founded in 1935 with 
  headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas,  is the world's largest processor and 
marketer of 
  chicken, beef and pork and the  second-largest food company in the Fortune 
500. 
  The company produces a wide  variety of protein-based and prepared food 
  products, which are marketed under  the Powered by Tyson (TM) strategy. Tyson 
is 
  the recognized market leader in the  retail and food service markets it 
serves, 
  providing products and service to  customers throughout the United States and 
  more than 80 countries. Tyson has  approximately 114,000 Team Members 
employed 
  at more than 300 facilities and  offices in the United States and around the 
  world." 
  The EEOC enforces Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits  
  employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national  
  origin; the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, which prohibits 
  discrimination  against individuals 40 years of age or older; sections of the 
Civil Rights 
  Act  of 1991; the Equal Pay Act; Title I of the Americans with Disabilities 
  Act,  which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in the 
  private  sector and state and local governments; and the Rehabilitation Act's 
 
  prohibitions against disability discrimination in the federal government.  
  Further information about the Commission is available on its web site at 
  _www.eeoc.gov_ (http://www.eeoc.gov/) . 
  _http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-11-05.html_ 
  (http://www.eeoc.gov/press/8-11-05.html)   
  _http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/tysonfoods831_ 
  (http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/bawnews/tysonfoods831)   

  Black  Employees Sue Tyson Foods for Maintaining ?Whites Only?  Restroom  
  Date: Tuesday, August 30,  2005
  By: _Michael H. Cottman_ 
  (http://www.blackamericaweb.com/site.aspx/authors/10015)   
  Twelve  black employees of Tys

[scifinoir2] We need lower gas prices

[Amy Harlib]

Dear Friend, 

I just signed a letter to the CEO's of energy companies asking them "Why in the 
face of national tragedy and record profits for your companies are American’s 
paying 50% more at the pump than they did one year ago?"

Please join me by signing this letter:

 http://www.giveemhellharry.com/page/petition/gas/klayu

Thanks!


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Iraq Dispatches: “Violence leads only to more viol ence.”

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
You'd never know this from mainstream corporate propaganda media!


> ** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
> ** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
>
>
> October 08, 2005
>
>
>   “Violence leads only to more violence.”
>
> Ongoing military operations continue unabated in Al-Anbar province. With
> names like ‘Operation Iron Fist’ and ‘Operation Iron Gate’ which was
> launched just days after ‘Iron Fist,’ thousands of US troops, backed by
> warplanes, tanks and helicopters, began attacking small cities and
> villages primarily in the northwestern area of Al-Anbar.
>
> According to the US military and corporate media, the purpose of these
> operations is to “root out” fighters from al-Qaida in Iraq, along with
> so-called insurgents.
>
> An Iraqi journalist writing under the name Sabah Ali (due to concerns of
> retribution from US/Iraqi governmental authorities) recently returned
> from the Al-Qa’im area of Iraq. Her report tells quite a different story.
>
> Venturing into the combat zone at the end of September/beginning of
> October, Sabah visited the village of Aanah, 360 km west of Baghdad,
> accomplishing a feat no non-embedded western journalist has dared
> undertake. The following is the report from Sabah, with photos, which
> shows the effect of these operations on civilians in the area:
>
> -
>
> There are 1,500 refugee families
>

> located now in this very new and modern city of Aanah (the old Aanah was
> drowned under the Euphrates when a dam was constructed in the eighties).
> The Aanah Humanitarian Relief Committee (AHRC) said that there are 7,450
> families from Al-Qa’im and surroundings areas scattered in different
> western cities, villages and in the desert. The AHRC report said that a
> few hundred families are still being besieged in A-Qa’im; they could not
> leave for different reasons. Some have disabled members (there are many
> now in Al-Qa’im), or have no money to move, or they prefer to stay under
> the bombing rather than living in a refugee camp.
>
> Many families could not leave. Abu Alaa’, for example, whose house was
> damaged earlier this year, whose wife lost her sight in that attack,
> could not leave because his wife and his father in law were shot again
> last week, injuring his wife again in abdomen; she is still in the
> hospital, and he could not leave. We call upon the international society
> to demand that these families are given the chance to leave before the
> city is devastated. People who stay behind are not necessarily fighters.
> They simply could not move.
>
> Families remaining in the area are in the following
> towns/villages/locations: The Projects area (2,500 families), Okashat,
> (950 families), Fheida (500), Phosphate factory (400), Cement factory
> (350), Tiwan (400), Aanah (1,500), Raihana (100), Hasa (200), Jbab
> (125), Nhaiya (100), and Ma’adhid (75).
>
> People are squatting in schools, public buildings, offices and youth
> centers. Many are in tent camps
>
,
> living in tents donated by various local relief committees.
>
> The luckiest are those who have friends or relatives to stay with in
> proper houses. Many of them need medical help, the children and the
> youth do not go to schools, they already lost a year last summer, and
> the women are having unbelievable difficulties trying to keep the
> families in impossible conditions. Aanah youth center
>

> is turned into a refugee camp. Here there are 45 families who live in
> tents, 17 families in the building.
>
> Raja Yasin, a widow originally from Basra but was married and had her 10
> children in Alqaim says; “If we had not run away we would have been
> killed in the bombing. We have nothing now. We need blankets and food.”
> Raja’s family is desperately poor. She has only her teenage son to help
> feed the family. But Raja is happy that she ran with her family
> [because]: “the attack will begin tomorrow,” she said.
>
> Mrs. Khamis, a mother of eight and a wife of a high school teacher, is
> not in a better situation: “We had to run bare foot; I left the lunch on
> the stove when the attack began. There was heavy bombing and mortar
> shelling, we had to run through the side streets with white flags” But
> she is not comfortable in the camp either: “There is no hot water; I
> have to give the children cold baths and the weather is changing. There
> is only one toilet for all these families, all together: men, women, and
> children. My brother tried to go back to Al-Qa’im three times to get
> some clothes and stuff from our house but could not go through the check
> points. We need blankets, food, fuel, and medicines…the attack will
> begin tomorrow.”
>
> The Khamis family did not receive the monthly food ra

[scifinoir2] DON'T 'FOX' WITH LOCAL NEWS

[Amy Harlib]

Fox News Channel's political agenda is coming to a television station near you. 

Roger Ailes, the architect behind the right-wing tilt of cable news, is now 
remaking 35 local television stations -- broadcasting to nearly 40 percent of 
America's homes -- in Fox News Channel's image.

Help stop News Corp. from turning our local news into another Fox News Channel. 
Add your name to Free Press' petition at http://www.freepress.net/action/foxnews


-

This message was sent via www.freepress.net. Please note that the sender of 
this message has not been verified.


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Fw: [scifinoir2] The Ig Nobel awards 2005

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I love these.  NPR's Science Friday broadcasts the Ig Nobel Awards every year 
in Nov.  Definitely worth a listen.



BOSTON - Gregg Miller mortgaged his home and maxed out his credit 
cards to mass produce his invention - prosthetic testicles for 
neutered dogs.

What started 10 years ago with an experiment on an unwitting 
Rottweiler named Max has turned into a thriving mail-order business. 
And on Thursday night Miller's efforts earned him a dubious yet 
strangely coveted honor: the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine.

"Considering my parents thought I was an idiot when I was a kid, this 
is a great honor," he said. "I wish they were alive to see it."



The Ig Nobels, given at Harvard University by Annals of Improbable 
Research magazine, celebrate the humorous, creative and odd side of 
science.

Miller has sold more than 150,000 of his Neuticles, more than 
doubling his $500,000 investment. The silicone implants come in 
different sizes, shapes, weights and degrees of firmness. The 
product's Web site says Neuticles allow a pet "to retain his natural 
look" and "self esteem."


Although the Ig Nobels are not exactly prestigious, many recipients 
are, like Miller, happy to win.

"Most scientists - no matter what they're doing, good or bad - never 
get any attention at all," said Marc Abrahams, editor of the Annals 
of Improbable Research.

Some, like Benjamin Smith of the University of Adelaide in Australia, 
who won the biology prize, actually nominated their own work. "I've 
been a fan of the Ig Nobels for a while," he said.

Smith's team studied and catalogued different scents emitted by more 
than 100 species of frogs under stress. Some smelled like cashews, 
while others smelled like licorice, mint or rotting fish.

He recalled getting strange looks when he'd show up at zoos asking to 
smell the frogs. "I've been turned away at the gate," he said.



This year's other Ig Nobel winners include:

Physics: Since 1927, researchers at the University of Queensland in 
Australia have been tracking a glob of congealed black tar as it 
drips through a funnel - at a rate of one drop every nine years.
Peace: Two researchers at Newcastle University in England monitored 
the brain activity of locusts as they watched clips from the 
movie "Star Wars."
Chemistry: An experiment at the University of Minnesota was designed 
to prove whether people can swim faster or slower in syrup than in 
water.
The Ig Nobel for literature went to the Nigerians who introduced 
millions of e-mail users to a "cast of rich characters ... each of 
whom requires just a small amount of expense money so as to obtain 
access to the great wealth to which they are entitled."

The awards are intended as a spoof of the Nobel science prizes, also 
announced this week. This year, they have another link: Roy Glauber, 
a Harvard professor who has long taken part in the Ig Nobel 
festivities, was among those awarded the physics Nobel this year.

© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may 
not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.






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[scifinoir2] The Exciting Adventures of Spider Man

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
A true scientific hero. 




October 25, 2005
Scientist at Work | Norman Platnick
The Exciting Adventures of Spider Man 
By MOHI KUMAR
Hundreds of glass vials with rubber stoppers sit in boxes on Norman I. 
Platnick's desk at the American Museum of Natural History, stacked like atoms 
in a crystal lattice. Inside the vials, magnified and refracted by the glass 
and the liquid it contains, are creatures ranging from itsy-bitsy to huge and 
hairy. 

Spiders - thousands of them, enough to send Miss Muffet into a coma - are 
pickling in alcohol, awaiting Dr. Platnick's perusal.

Most are specimens collected from his own fieldwork, but many have been sent 
from various institutions around the world. Amid the mass of vials stand a 
light microscope and a computer - the basic equipment he needs to conduct his 
research: finding new spiders. 

Not simply new species, but new genuses and families, grouped by their 
similarities and evolutionary histories. All spiders are united by their order, 
Araneae, classified by their ability to produce silk. And all Araneae fall into 
the larger class Arachnida, eight-legged creatures, which in turn belong to the 
phylum that contains all arthropods, or invertebrates with exoskeletons and 
segmented bodies. 

Within this web of Latin, the 53-year-old Dr. Platnick navigates without 
getting stuck, weaving new threads to connect the species he encounters with 
the species he knows. 

His logic is simple: find characteristics of spiders' shapes that independently 
select the same exact group of organisms. "There are about 1.75 million species 
on this planet," Dr. Platnick explained. "Select from these all the organisms 
with abdominal spinnerets to produce silk - about 38,000 species. Repeat this 
process and select all organisms with modified male pedipalps for copulation. 
You end up with the same 38,000." 

This congruence of characteristics unites spiders uniquely from all others, he 
said. Apply the concept with higher degrees of specificity, and species' 
characteristics emerge. 

"You start with the null hypothesis that they are all the same. It doesn't take 
long to see that they are not," he said. "Then you divide them into groups of 
specimens more closely related to each other." 

As he explained the process, Dr. Platnick dug out a paper describing a new 
species he had identified in Australia. "The differences here are in the male 
sex organs, or their pedipalps," he explained. Carefully drawn in profile, one 
pedipalp had subtly different arrangements of sub-millimeter-sized bulbous 
growths. 

These minuscule differences have put Dr. Platnick and his museum at the center 
of research on spiders, termed arachnology. With the museum already housing 
tens of thousands of arachnids in by far the largest collection of spiders in 
the world, Dr. Platnick seeks to add to the number by cataloging the world's 
biodiversity of spiders, one at a time. In total, he has discovered more than 
1,200 new spider species, several dozen new genuses and a couple of new 
families.

"His contributions to spiders are unmatched," said Quentin Wheeler, the keeper 
and head of entomology at the Natural History Museum in London. "He is the best 
arachnologist of his generation, has published more monographs and 
nomenclatural contributions than anyone, period." Dr. Platnick has written or 
collaborated on more than 250 scientific papers.

Moreover, his classification efforts have revolutionized the field of taxonomic 
study. Dr. Platnick is known as one of the greatest thinkers in the field of 
modern cladistics - a method of sorting organisms based on the evolutionary 
features they share, all derived from their closest common ancestor. 

His dedication to cladistics in the 1970's helped invalidate the commonly held 
views that evolutionary patterns could not be known and that classification 
could be based only on similarities between organisms.

For example, if one were to go solely by similarity, one might think the 
manatee's closest relative was another marine mammal. In fact, cladistics shows 
that features like its toenails and the way it gathers food with its snout make 
it more closely related to the elephant. 

Cladistics now determines how organisms are classified. "This was the most 
important event in the discipline since Darwin, and I would rank Norman as one 
of the three or four most important scientists who expanded, refined and 
explained these ideas to the world," said Dr. Wheeler, who worked with Dr. 
Platnick in the early 1990's on systematic biology, or the biology behind 
classification.

Born in 1951 in Bluefield, W.Va., Dr. Platnick started out in rural schools but 
at age 12, eager to take more classes in biology, enrolled in Concord College 
in Athens, W.Va. It was there, as a 14-year-old sophomore, that he met Nancy 
Stewart Price.

"Yeah, she was a normal college 

[scifinoir2] Fw: Mouse Balls

[Amy Harlib]

Message
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
ROTFL!!!   The funniest thing I've read in ages!


  MOUSE BALLS

   I don't know how they wrote this with a straight face...

   This apparently was a real memo sent out by a computer
 company to its employees in all seriousness. It went to all
 field engineers about a computer peripheral problem.. The
 author of this memo was quite genuine.

   The engineers rolled on the floor! Especially note the last
 couple of sentences.

 
***


   If a mouse fails to operate or should it perform
 erratically, it may need  a ball replacement. Mouse balls are
 now available as FRU (Field Replacement Units).

   Because of the delicate nature of this procedure,
 replacement of mouse balls should only be attempted by
 properly trained personnel.

 Before proceeding, determine the type of mouse balls by
 examining the underside of the mouse.

   Domestic balls will be larger and harder than foreign balls.
 Ball removal  procedures differ depending upon the
 manufacturer of the mouse.

   Foreign balls can be replaced using the pop off method.

   Domestic balls are replaced by using the twist off method.

   Mouse balls are not usually static sensitive.
   However, excessive handling can result in sudden discharge.
 Upon completion of ball replacement, the mouse may be used
 immediately.

   It is recommended that each person have a pair of spare
 balls for maintaining optimum customer satisfaction.

   Any customer missing his balls should contact the local
 personnel in charge of removing and replacing these necessary
 items.



   Please keep in mind that a customer without properly working
 balls is an  unhappy customer.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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[scifinoir2] Fwd: Camille Cosby's Speech - PLEASE READ AND PASS IT ON...

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Fwd: Camille Cosby's Speech - PLEASE READ AND PASS IT ON...




Note: forwarded message attached.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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[scifinoir2] Fw: Stop the "Global Warming Zombies" This Halloween

[Amy Harlib]

Stop the "Global Warming Zombies" This Halloween
[EMAIL PROTECTED]




 
 Stop the 'Global Warming Zombies' this Halloween 



   

  What's more frightening than Halloween? The 
powerful polluters - the vampires and zombies of global warming - who are 
making global warming worse by holding back the solutions that would reduce 
pollution.

 
Watch "Climate Mash"  
 
  The cure? This Halloween, it's the funny "Climate 
Mash," a flash video based on the perennial Halloween hit favorite "Monster 
Mash."  Over 100,000 people have enjoyed the Climate Mash, which one news 
account described as "catching fire in the online world as it is forwarded from 
friend to friend."

  By visiting www.climatemash.org, you can view 
"The Climate Mash" and watch its stars - President Bush, vice-President Cheney 
and others getting down at the Climate Mash with extreme-polluter ExxonMobil 
and the zombies and vampires of global warming. 

  "The Climate Mash" is hilarious - but the effects 
of global warming aren't funny. Global warming puts our health, our economy and 
our environment at risk. It's time to demand that major polluters like 
ExxonMobil and others stop resisting solutions that could make a real 
difference. Your voice is needed NOW to overcome the polluters who are trying 
to bury clean energy solutions.

  This Halloween, you can help Clear the Air send a 
message to Congress that they'll never forget. Click here to watch "The Climate 
Mash" and take action today! 

  Once you've watched the video, please forward 
this email to at least ten friends to let them know about "The Climate Mash" 
and Clear the Air's online campaign. Thanks so much and Happy Halloween. 




   
  Send a letter to the following decision maker(s): 
  Your Congressperson 
  Your Senators 


  Below is the sample letter:

  Subject: Stop the 'Global Warming Zombies' this 
Halloween

  Dear [decision maker name automatically inserted 
here],

  Global warming puts our health, our economy and 
our environment at risk. This November, world leaders will convene in Montreal 
to discuss the next steps in the global strategy to address global warming. 
Unfortunately, polluters like ExxonMobil are resisting the solutions that could 
make a difference, and the Bush administration is not constructively engaging 
in the process.

  As a result, we are looking to you to demonstrate 
the leadership and commitment needed to deal with global warming. We need 
pollution policies that use clear targets and timelines to guarantee global 
warming emissions will go down, and policies that promote renewable energy, 
energy efficiency and tighter fuel economy standards. 

  I ask you to support these measures as part of a 
national approach that will reduce emissions fast enough to prevent 
irreversible harm to public health, the economy and the environment. 

  Please let me know whether you support these 
goals as well, and what you are doing to reduce the threat of global warming. 

  Sincerely,

  Amy Harlib

  cc:
  President George W. Bush 



   Take Action! 
  Instructions:
  Click here to take action on this issue 



  Tell-A-Friend:
  Tell-A-Friend! Stop the 'Global Warming Zombies' 
this Halloween. Pass your message on to your friends and colleagues, and invite 
them to watch the hilarious video and take action on Global Warming. 
   Tell-a-Friend! 



  What's At Stake:
  For more information, please go to Clear the 
Air's Global Warming section. 



  Campaign Expiration Date:
  November 16, 2005 
 
   
 


--
 


  If you received this message from a friend, you can sign up 
for Clear The Air.  

[scifinoir2] Fw: What Rice Can't See from Wash Post

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Interesting but leaves out one very important factor about Rice - the allure of 
power.  She's too wrapped up in being part of the powerful elite to understand 
the suffering of so many others of her race and even those who are not Black.


What Rice Can't See

By Eugene Robinson
Tuesday, October 25, 2005; A21

Like a lot of African Americans, I've long wondered
what the deal was with Condoleezza Rice and the issue
of race. How does she work so loyally for George W.
Bush, whose approval rating among blacks was measured
in a recent poll at a negligible 2 percent? How did
she come to a worldview so radically different from
that of most black Americans? Is she blind, is she in
denial, is she confused -- or what?

After spending three days with the secretary of state
and her entourage as she toured Birmingham, where she
grew up in a protective bubble as the tumult of the
civil rights movement swirled around her, I have a
partial answer: It's as if Rice is still cosseted in
her beloved Titusville, the neighborhood of black
strivers where she was raised, able to see the very
different reality that other African Americans
experience but not to reach out of the bubble -- not
able to touch that other reality, and thus not able to
really understand it.

Rice's parents tried their best to shelter their only
daughter from Jim Crow racism, and they succeeded.
Forty years later, Rice shows no bitterness when she
recalls her childhood in a town whose streets were
ruled by the segregationist police chief Bull Connor.
"I've always said about Birmingham that because race
was everything, race was nothing," she said in an
interview on the flight home.

When she reminisces, she talks of piano lessons and
her brief attempt at ballet -- not of Connor setting
his dogs loose on brave men, women and children
marching for freedom, which is the Birmingham that
other residents I met still remember. A friend of
Rice's, Denise McNair, was one of the four girls
killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church. That would have left a deep scar on me, but
Rice can speak of that atrocity without visible
emotion.

She doesn't deny that race makes a difference. "We all
look forward to the day when this country is
race-blind, but it isn't yet," she told reporters in
Birmingham. Later she added, "The fact that our
society is not colorblind is a statement of fact."

But then why are the top echelons of her State
Department almost entirely white? "That's an artifact
of foreign policy," she said in the interview. "It's
not been a very diverse profession." In other words,
there aren't enough qualified minority candidates. I
wondered how many times those words have been used as
a lame excuse.

One of the things she somehow missed was that in
Titusville and other black middle-class enclaves, a
guiding principle was that as you climbed, you were
obliged to reach back and bring others along. Rice has
been a foreign policy heavyweight for nearly two
decades; she spent four years in the White House as
the president's national security adviser. In the
interview, she mentioned just one black professional
she has brought with her from the National Security
Council to State.

As we were flying to Alabama, Rice said an interesting
thing. She was talking about the history of the civil
rights movement, and she said, "If you read Frederick
Douglass, he was not petitioning from outside of the
institutions but rather demanding that the
institutions live up to what they said they were. If
you read Martin Luther King, he was not petitioning
from outside, he was petitioning from inside the
principles and the institutions, and challenging
America to be what America said that it was."

The civil rights movement came from the inside? I
always thought the Edmund Pettus Bridge was outside.

I know very few black Americans who think of
themselves fully as insiders in this society. No
matter how high we rise, there's always that reality
that Rice acknowledges: The society isn't colorblind,
not yet. It's not always in the front of your mind,
but it's there. We talk about it, we overcome it, but
it's there.

When Rice was growing up, her father stood guard at
the entrance of her neighborhood with a rifle to keep
the Klan's nightriders away. But that was outside the
bubble. Inside the bubble, Rice was sitting at the
piano in pretty dresses to play Bach fugues. It sounds
like a wonderful childhood, but one that left her able
to see the impact that race has in America -- able to
examine it and analyze it -- but not to feel it.

If there's a "Rosebud" to decode the enigma that is
Condoleezza Rice, it's Titusville.

The writer will be online at 1 p.m. today
onhttp://www.washingtonpost.com. His e-mail address [EMAIL PROTECTED]


  



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[scifinoir2] Nation Pays Tribute to Rosa Parks

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 One of my heroines gets the honors she deserves but will this be more than 
fancy lip service?
Only if we keep on fighting against the Bushites!




October 30, 2005
Nation Pays Tribute to Rosa Parks 
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 8:58 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush, members of Congress and ordinary Americans 
paid tribute to Rosa Parks under the soaring dome of the Capitol Rotunda on 
Sunday, honoring the woman whose defiant act on a city bus challenged 
segregation in the South and inspired the civil rights movement.

Parks, a former seamstress, became the first woman to lie in honor in the 
Rotunda, sharing an honor bestowed upon Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy and 
other national leaders. Bush and congressional leaders paused to lay wreaths by 
her casket, while members of a university choir greeted her with ''The Battle 
Hymn of the Republic.''

Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., in whose Detroit congressional office Parks worked, 
said the ceremony and public viewing showed ''the legacy of Rosa Parks is more 
than just a success for the civil rights movement or for African-Americans. It 
means it's a national honor.''

''She was a citizen in the best sense of the word,'' said Sen. Tom Harkin, 
D-Iowa. ''She caused things to happen in our society that made us a better, 
more caring, more just society.''

Outside the Capitol, as flags flew at half-staff, thousands of people awaited 
the chance to pay their respects, some arriving before noon. Some carried signs 
that read, ''Thank you, Rosa Parks.''

The crowd cheered loudly when the motorcade, led by Parks' hearse and a vintage 
D.C. Metro bus, arrived. Her casket was carried from the hearse by a military 
honor guard while Rep. Carolyn Kilpatrick, D-Mich., stood with family members 
and friends outside the steps leading up to the Capitol and prayed.

Senate chaplain Barry Black, bowing his head in prayer, said Parks' courage 
''ignited a movement that aroused our national conscience'' and served as an 
example of the ''power of fateful, small acts.''

Bush, who did not speak during the brief ceremony, issued a proclamation Sunday 
ordering the U.S. flag to be flown at half-staff over all public buildings on 
Wednesday, the day of Parks' funeral and burial in Detroit.

The president and first lady Laura Bush were joined by Senate Majority Leader 
Bill Frist, R-Tenn., Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., temporary House 
majority leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., and other members of Congress.

Fred Allen, 59, who grew up in segregated Halls, Tenn., brought his 20-year-old 
son to help him understand the civil rights era.

''He has no idea what it was like to grow up in the South, where you had to 
hold your head down,'' Allen said.

Robert Cunningham, 65, caught a flight from Atlanta with his wife, daughter and 
four grandchildren so they could pay their last respects. When they learned 
Friday night that Parks' body would lie in honor in the Capitol, Cunningham's 
wife said, ''We have to go.''

''She started the movement,'' Cunningham said of Parks, staring at the West 
facade of the Capitol. ''She was the mother of the civil rights movement by 
simply saying, 'I'm tired of giving up my seat.'''

Parks, who died last Monday, was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her 
bus seat to a white man. Among those who supported her was Dr. Martin Luther 
King Jr., who led the 381-day boycott of the Montgomery, Ala., bus system that 
helped initiate the modern civil rights movement.

At St. Paul A.M.E. Church in Montgomery on Sunday, where Parks had been lying 
in honor at the church since Saturday, an overflow crowd including Secretary of 
State Condoleezza Rice celebrated her life.

''I was here when Rosa Parks started and I just wanted to be here when she 
departed,'' said the Rev. Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Rice said she and others who grew up in Alabama during the height of Parks' 
activism might not have realized her impact on their lives, ''but I can 
honestly say that without Mrs. Parks, I probably would not be standing here 
today as secretary of state.''

Alabama Gov. Bob Riley credited Parks with inspiring protests against social 
injustice around the world.

''I firmly believe God puts different people in different parts of history so 
great things can happen,'' Riley said. ''I think Rosa Parks is one of those 
people.''

Lowery and the Rev. Jesse Jackson said the best way for blacks to carry on 
Parks' legacy would be to push Congress to renew the 1965 Voting Rights Act, 
which they said would be in jeopardy when it comes up for review in 2007.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who was a year old at the time of Parks' arrest, said 
when he arrived in Montgomery for the memorial, he thought about ''how if she 
had just moved her seat, how history might of changed.'

[scifinoir2] The Comic-Strip Revolution Will Be Televised

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I think this is of great interest.
 I hope this achieves the greatest success!  This deserves to be OUT THERE!
Cheers!
Amy




October 30, 2005
The Comic-Strip Revolution Will Be Televised 
By LOLA OGUNNAIKE
Los Angeles

FANS fearing that "The Boondocks," the wildly scathing, racially charged comic 
strip, will lose its bite when it appears on television next week need not 
worry. Within the first 10 seconds of the new show of the same name, viewers 
will be offered the following Molotov cocktail of social criticism: "Jesus is 
black, Ronald Reagan is the devil and the government is lying about 9/11." 

Since its national debut six years ago, the strip, about two black children 
living in white suburbia, has slaughtered its share of sacred cows, 
eviscerating everyone from Condoleezza Rice and Strom Thurmond to 50 Cent and 
Ralph Nader. President Bush has been a frequent target. As a result, the strip 
has been suspended, banished to editorial pages and dropped from some 
newspapers (it currently appears in more than 300). 

Trying to translate that incendiary spirit into great television will be a 
challenge, an expensive challenge at that. Cartoon Network pays Sony Pictures 
Television, producer of the series, an estimated license fee of $400,000 per 
episode. Add to that the millions the network has spent on marketing, including 
many billboards in New York and Los Angeles trumpeting the show's premiere on 
Nov. 6 in the late-night "Adult Swim" block, and "The Boondocks" becomes the 
most expensive show the network has made. 

"We don't have a lot of money, so we decided that for this year, we're going to 
put every dime we have into 'Boondocks,' " said Mike Lazzo, senior vice 
president of programming and production at Cartoon Network. 

It remains to be seen if the anime series will become a phenomenon like Dave 
Chappelle's "Chappelle's Show" or sputter and die like "The PJs," Eddie 
Murphy's animated series about life in the projects. (Both shows satirized 
African-American culture and the culture at large.) "I figure it will either be 
a big hit or a massive flop; there is no room for in between," Aaron McGruder, 
creator of "The Boondocks," said one recent afternoon in the windowless 
warehouse space that serves as his studio here. "I work presuming horrendous 
failure and I do my best to prevent that." 

Like the strip, the series follows the adventures of Huey Freeman, a 
10-year-old militant with the soul of a Black Panther, and his baby brother, 
Riley, a cornrow-sporting potty mouth who idolizes gangsta rappers. The boys 
live in the suburbs with their stern but loving grandfather. Played by John 
Witherspoon (best known for his role as a sartorially challenged father in the 
1992 romantic comedy "Boomerang"), Granddad is partial to corporal punishment 
and exercising in the nude. The actress Regina King ("Jerry Maguire") gives 
voice to both Riley and Huey. (The singer Alicia Keys was originally cast as 
Huey but dropped out citing scheduling conflicts.) Unlike the strip, Mr. 
McGruder said, the series will not be topical. "We cannot make a show that's 
going to be dated," he explained. "It has to survive into syndication and be 
watchable in 10 years." 

Still, it would not be an Aaron McGruder production if it were not 
controversial and "The Boondocks" is sure to inspire heated conversation. One 
episode imagines the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emerging from a coma, only 
to find that his pacifism doesn't play well in the post-Sept. 11 world. No 
longer a beloved national hero, he lands on the cover of Time magazine as a 
traitor. Even worse, a film about him, directed by Oliver Stone and starring 
Cuba Gooding Jr., tanks. Another episode has a self-loathing black man praying 
to get into white heaven. In "Guess Hoe's Coming to Dinner," Granddad dates a 
young gold digger who turns out to be a prostitute. And an episode poking fun 
at the R&B singer R. Kelly, who is facing child pornography charges, ends with 
Huey declaring, "We all know the nigga can sing, but what happened to 
standards?" 

Mr. McGruder is unapologetic about the use of the N-word in his series - it 
appears more than 20 times in one episode, even. "I use it," he said. "A lot of 
young black people use it and a lot of old black people use it. At a certain 
point it starts to feel fake if you're not using it."

The furor over the word "speaks to how juvenile racial discourse is in this 
country," Mr. McGruder said.

Mr. Lazzo said he was not bothered by the provocative content of "The 
Boondocks." "I'm 47 and I grew up with 'All in the Family' and I remember that 
show made people laugh and think and that's what good television does," he 
said. 

Still, Mr. McGruder is willing to make certain concessions to more delicate 
sensibilities. When Sony executives asked that he heavily edit an episode that 
featured Oprah Winf

[scifinoir2] The Long History of a Bus Ride

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Terrific!  Rosa Parks in proper context.



October 31, 2005
Op-Ed Contributor
The Long History of a Bus Ride 
By JUAN WILLIAMS
Washington

ROSA PARKS led an inspiring life. Unfortunately, we rarely hear about it. 

That may sound surprising at a time when Rosa Parks is probably mentioned in 
every American history textbook and is the subject of dozens of biographies. 
The problem is that her story is usually presented as a simplistic morality 
tale. It is a paint-by-the numbers picture of virtue that goes like this: 

On Dec. 1, 1955, Mrs. Parks is an ordinary 42-year-old seamstress in downtown 
Montgomery, Ala. She leaves work and gets on the Cleveland Avenue bus to go 
home. When the whites-only section fills up, the bus driver yells at Mrs. Parks 
to give up her seat to a white man. She refuses and is arrested. Simply by 
sitting on a bus, Mrs. Parks sets off the year-long Montgomery bus boycott that 
galvanizes national attention, brings the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to 
the start of his journey as a civil rights leader and creates a model of 
nonviolent protest against racial segregation.

There's no denying the appeal of this story - her body began lying in honor in 
the Capitol yesterday. But this telling of the tale does a disservice to Mrs. 
Parks and twists the history of the civil rights movement. Her story is about 
more than one bus ride. And the civil rights movement is more than one moment 
of defiance. The focus on Rosa Parks leads to the neglect of other civil rights 
pioneers who did far more to shape history.

Take two other black women who died recently with much less attention to their 
life work. Constance Baker Motley, the first black woman to be a federal judge, 
was an N.A.A.C.P. lawyer who helped to write briefs used in arguing the Brown 
school desegregation case. In the 50's, she went into hostile towns all over 
the South and won case after case to make sure that their school districts 
really integrated. She also directed the legal campaign that led to the 
admission of James Meredith to the University of Mississippi and stood by him 
as he faced down segregationist violence to enroll. And she stayed with Medgar 
Evers as he battled the racists who eventually killed him.

Another woman who recently died, C. DeLores Tucker, didn't face that kind of 
drama. But she broke through political barriers to become Pennsylvania's 
commonwealth secretary, then blazed new paths by working to get other black 
people into elected office and challenging misogyny in rap music.

The one-dimensional telling of one day in the life of Rosa Parks takes her away 
from the real story - and to my mind the really inspiring story - of 
extraordinary black women like Judge Motley and Ms. Tucker, who rose from 
working-class backgrounds to become dedicated to creating social change. 

The truth is that Mrs. Parks was not someone who one day, out of the blue, 
decided to defy the local custom of blacks sitting in the back of the bus. That 
story leads some people to the cynical conclusion, once voiced by a character 
in the movie "Barbershop," that all Rosa Parks did was sit on her bottom. 
That's not only insulting but a distortion that takes away the powerful truth 
that Rosa Parks worked hard to develop her own political consciousness and then 
worked hard to build a politically aware black community in the heart of Dixie.

Before that one moment of defiance on the bus she was a civil rights activist 
who had long fought to get voting rights for black people in Alabama. 
Apparently it is too confusing to mention that as far back as 1943 she had 
refused to follow the rules requiring black people to enter city buses through 
the back door. And it invites too much complexity to mention that in the late 
40's, as an official of the local branch of the N.A.A.C.P., she was forming a 
coalition with a group of black and white women in Montgomery to fight 
segregated seating on city buses.

Her education in rural Pine Level, Ala., came at Jim Crow schools that taught 
her only enough to work for white people as a washerwoman, maid or seamstress. 
In Montgomery, she worked mending dresses. One of her employers was Virginia 
Durr, the wife of a powerful white lawyer. Mrs. Durr, a member of the 
interracial Women's Political Council, became Mrs. Parks's ally in a long-term 
effort to use political pressure to end the daily indignity of riding 
segregated buses.

Mrs. Durr introduced Mrs. Parks to the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee. The 
school taught strategies to empower white and black people to get better wages, 
to register to vote and organize as a political force. Even before Highlander, 
Mrs. Parks had championed the rights of a teenager, Claudette Colvin, who was 
arrested in March 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to white people on a 
Montgomery bus. 

All of this preceded the moment when

[scifinoir2] Fw: New Moons of Pluto

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Way cool!


NASA Science News for November 1, 2005
Using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have discovered that Pluto may 
have not one, but three moons.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/01nov_moonsofpluto.htm?list86684

Find out about the [EMAIL PROTECTED] Podcast feed at 
http://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htm. 


You are currently subscribed to snglist as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 

This is a free service.

To unsubscribe click here: http://lyris.msfc.nasa.gov/u?id=86684K&n=T&l=snglist
or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 


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[scifinoir2] Terrific articles about Rosa Parks

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Please do check these out.

http://villagevoice.com/news/0544,tate,69522,6.html
Superb!

http://villagevoice.com/news/0544,fmurphy,69558,6.html
This 2nd piece answers curious and long-neglected aspects of the Rosa Parks 
story.

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[scifinoir2] On Gravity, Oreos and a Theory of Everything

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 Delightful portrait of a woman physicist and her "spaced-out" work.



November 1, 2005
Scientist at Work | Lisa Randall
On Gravity, Oreos and a Theory of Everything 
By DENNIS OVERBYE
The portal to the fifth dimension, sadly, is closed.

There used to be an ice cream parlor in the student center at the Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology. And it was there, in the summer of 1998, that Lisa 
Randall, now a professor of physics at Harvard and a bit of a chocoholic, and 
Raman Sundrum, a professor at Johns Hopkins, took an imaginary trip right out 
of this earthly plane into a science fiction realm of parallel universes, 
warped space and otherworldly laws of physics.

They came back with a possible answer to a question that has tormented 
scientists for decades, namely why gravity is so weak compared with the other 
forces of nature: in effect, we are borrowing it from another universe. In so 
doing, Dr. Randall and Dr. Sundrum helped foment a revolution in the way 
scientists think about string theory - the vaunted "theory of everything" - 
raising a glimmer of hope that coming experiments may actually test some of its 
ineffable sounding concepts.

Their work undermined well-worn concepts like the idea that we can even know 
how many dimensions of space we live in, or the reality of gravity, space and 
time.

The work has also made a star and an icon of Dr. Randall. The attention has 
been increased by the recent publication to laudatory reviews of her new book, 
"Warped Passages, Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden 
Dimensions," A debate broke out on the physics blog Cosmic Variance a few weeks 
ago about whether it was appropriate, as a commentator on NPR had said, to say 
she looked like Jodie Foster.

"How do we know we live in a four-dimensional universe?" she asked a crowd who 
filled the Hayden Planetarium on a stormy night last week.

"You think gravity is what you see. We're always just looking at the tail of 
things."

Although it is the unanswerable questions that most appeal to her now, it was 
the answerable ones that drew her to science, especially math, as a child, the 
middle of three daughters of a salesman for an engineering firm, and a teacher, 
in Fresh Meadows, Queens. "I really liked the fact that it had definite 
answers," Dr. Randall said.

At Stuyvesant High School, where she was in the same class as Brian Greene, the 
future Columbia string theorist and best-selling author, she was the first girl 
to serve as captain of the school's math team, and she won the famous 
Westinghouse Science Talent Search competition with a project about complex 
numbers. She went on to Harvard where she stayed until 1987 when she emerged 
with a Ph.D. in physics. 

Those were heady times in physics. Fired by the dream of a unified theory of 
everything, theorists flocked to string theory, which envisioned the 
fundamental elements of nature as tiny wriggling strings.

Dr. Randall, however, resisted this siren call, at least for a while. For one 
thing, physicists thought it would take a particle accelerator 10 million 
billion times as powerful as anything on earth to produce an actual string and 
test the theory.

String theory also stubbornly requires space-time to have 10 dimensions, not 
the 4 (3 of space and 1 of time) that we experience. Preferring to stay closer 
to testable reality, Dr. Randall was drawn to a bottom-up approach to 
theoretical physics, trying to build models that explain observed phenomena and 
hoping to discover principles with wider application. But Dr. Randall and 
string theory had their own kismet.

In the mid-90's, theorists discovered that the theory was even richer than its 
founders had thought, describing not just strings but so-called branes, as in 
membranes, of all dimensions. Our own universe could be such a brane, an island 
of three dimensions floating in a sea of higher dimension, like a bubble in the 
sea. But there could be membranes with five, six, seven or more dimensions 
coexisting and mingling like weird cosmic soap bubbles in what theorists 
sometimes call the multiverse.

"The stuff we're really famous for was really lucky in a way," Dr. Randall said.

In the summer of 1998, after postdoctoral stints at Harvard and the University 
of California, Berkeley, she was a tenured M.I.T. professor ready to move to 
Princeton. She wondered then whether parallel universes could help solve a 
vexing problem with a favorite theories of particle physicists.

That theory, known as supersymmetry, was invented in turn to solve another 
problem - the enormous gulf known as the hierarchy problem between gravity and 
the other forces. Naïve calculations from first principles suggest, Dr. Randall 
said, that gravity should be 10 million billion times as strong as it is. You 
might find it hard to imagine gravity as a weak force, but consider, says Dr. 
Ra

[scifinoir2] Astronomers Say They Are on the Verge of Seeing a Black Hole

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Approaching a truly cosmic moment. 



November 2, 2005
Astronomers Say They Are on the Verge of Seeing a Black Hole 
By DENNIS OVERBYE
Astronomers said they had moved one notch closer to seeing the unseeable today. 

Using a worldwide array of radio telescopes to obtain the most detailed look 
yet at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, they said that they had narrowed the 
size of a mysterious fountain of energy there to less than half that of the 
Earth's orbit about the Sun.

The result strengthens the case that the energy is generated by a massive black 
hole gobbling stars and gas, they said. And it leaves astronomers on the verge 
of seeing the black hole itself as a small dark shadow ringed with light, in 
the blaze of radiation that marks the galaxy's center.

Up until now the existence of black holes - objects so dense that not even 
light can escape them- has been surmised by indirect measurements of, say stars 
or gas swirling in their grip. Seeing the black hole's shadow would require the 
ability to see about twice as much detail as can now be discerned. Such an 
observation could provide an important test of Albert Einstein's theory of 
general relativity, his theory of gravity, which predicts black holes can exist.

"We're getting tantalizingly close to being able to see an unmistakable 
signature that would provide the first concrete proof of a supermassive black 
hole at a galaxy's center," Zhi-Qiang Shen of the Shanghai Astronomical 
Observatory, one of the leaders of an international team of radio astronomers, 
said in a news release. Their report appears today in the journal Nature.

Fred Lo, director of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in 
Charlottesville, Va., said that achieving the extra resolution could take 
several years and would probably require new radio telescopes. "We're not there 
yet, but in time no question, we will get there." He added that seeing the 
shadow, would be "proof of the pudding" that Einstein was right and that black 
holes exist.

In an accompanying commentary, Christopher Reynolds of the University of 
Maryland wrote that such observations "will herald a new era in probing the 
structure and properties of some of the most enigmatic objects in the 
universe." Other experts, however, said it might be difficult, even if the 
extra resolution could be achieved, to untangle the detailed properties of the 
black hole from its tangled blazing surroundings.

In the last few decades, astronomers have identified thousands of probable 
black holes. These include objects billions of times as massive as the Sun at 
the centers of galaxies, where, it is theorized, gas and dust swirling toward 
doom are heated and erupt with jets of x-rays and radio energy.

But the putative holes are all too far away for astronomers to discern the 
signature feature of a black hole, a point of no return, called the event 
horizon, in effect, an edge of the observable universe, from which nothing can 
return. Instead, the evidence for black holes rests mostly on showing that to 
much invisible mass resides in too small a space to be anything but a black 
hole.

The center of our own galaxy is about 26,000 light years away, in the direction 
of Sagittarius. The new observations conclude that at the center of the Milky 
Way, an amount of invisible matter equal to the mass of four million Suns is 
crammed into a region no larger than half the size of Earth's orbit around the 
Sun, about 90 million miles. That small size eliminates the most likely 
alternative explanation of the galactic center fireworks, a cluster of stars, 
the radio astronomers said. Such a dense cluster would collapse in 100 years.

Even more conclusive proof would come from the observation of the black hole's 
shadow, which would be about five times the size of the event horizon and 
appear about as big as a tennis ball on the moon according to calculations by 
Eric Agol of the University of Washington, Heino Falcke of the Max Planck 
Institute for Radio Astronomy, in Germany, and Fulvio Melia of the University 
of Arizona.

"For most people, seeing is believing," said Dr. Agol, who added that 
observations of the shadow could in principle be used to test whether general 
relativity is correct in such strange conditions and to measure how fast the 
black hole is spinning.

Holland Ford, a Johns Hopkins astronomer who has used the Hubble Space 
Telescope to investigate black holes at the centers of galaxies, said, "It 
would be very exciting to begin to resolve the black hole's event horizon."

Martin Rees of Cambridge University in England, who along with Donald 
Lynden-Bell first proposed a black hole as the energy source at the Milky Way's 
center in 1971, said he was encouraged by this progress. But he cited studies 
suggesting that the shadow could be washed out by radiation or particles in 
front of the black

[scifinoir2] Fw: Stop Arctic Drilling with Last-Minute Amendment

[Amy Harlib]

Activism Message from ActForChange
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



 

  ACTFORCHANGE ACTIVISM UPDATE: November 2, 2005 

  You are receiving this newsletter because you have previously taken 
action on ActForChange in support of progressive values.



Save the Arctic Wildlife Refuge

Destroying this pristine wilderness will do nothing to 
bring down gas prices or address our addiction to fossil fuels, but it will 
boost oil company profits. 





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industrialize the Refuge? It's up to us to stop them -- and our 
great-grandchildren are likely to read about this decision in their history 
books. 

  Click here to save the Refuge.

  We all know that drilling in the Refuge isn't the path to a balanced 
budget or long-term energy security. The first oil from the Arctic won't be 
available for at least ten years, and even once this oil reaches the market, 
the price of a gallon of gasoline would be just one penny lower. We could save 
eleven times as much oil simply by raising average fuel efficiency standards. 

  Click here to take action -- it may be your last chance.

  Meanwhile, industrial development of the Arctic Refuge will devastate the 
wildlife that depends on this natural area for survival. Also sacrificed on the 
altar of oil company profits will be the Gwich'in people, native Alaskans who 
have depended upon the Porcupine River caribou herd for literally thousands of 
years. 

  Click here to let Congress know your feelings on this topic.

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[scifinoir2] Fw: Vatican wants an end to battle with science

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subject: Vatican wants an end to battle with science


URL to an interesting article that appeared in MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9913712/


It has only taken 405 years, since Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake, for 
the Catholic Church to start to become reconciled with science.  Maybe there is 
hope for us.

First few paragraphs
" 
VATICAN CITY - A Vatican cardinal said Thursday that the faithful should listen 
to what secular modern science has to offer, warning that religion risks 
turning into “fundamentalism” if it ignores scientific reason.

Cardinal Paul Poupard, who heads the Pontifical Council for Culture, made the 
comments at a news conference on a Vatican project to help end the “mutual 
prejudice” between religion and science that has long bedeviled the Roman 
Catholic Church and is part of the evolution debate in the United States.

The Vatican project was inspired by Pope John Paul II’s 1992 declaration that 
the church’s 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from 
“tragic mutual incomprehension.” Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus 
Copernicus’ discovery that the earth revolved around the sun; church teaching 
at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe."






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



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[scifinoir2] Waging a Battle, Losing the War

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

 Bolsters eloquently all the arguments against the Bush regime.



November 4, 2005
Books of The Times | 'The Next Attack'
Waging a Battle, Losing the War 
By MICHIKO KAKUTANI
"We are losing.

"Four years and two wars after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, America is 
heading for a repeat of the events of that day, or perhaps something worse. 
Against our most dangerous foe, our strategic position is weakening." 

So begins Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon's sobering new book, "The Next 
Attack." The authors, two of President Bill Clinton's counterterrorism aides, 
draw a persuasive and utterly frightening picture of the current state of 
America's war on terror.

They see more and more Muslims, many of whom had no earlier ties to radical 
organizations, enlisting in the struggle against the West, and they also point 
out the proliferation of freelance terrorists, self-starters without any formal 
ties to Al Qaeda or other organized groups. They see local and regional 
grievances (in places like Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and Southeast Asia) merging 
into "a pervasive hatred of the United States, its allies, and the 
international order they uphold." And they see in the Muslim world traditional 
social and religious inhibitions against violence and even against the use of 
weapons of mass destruction weakening as a growing number of radical clerics 
assume positions of influence.

Like the C.I.A. officer Michael Scheuer, the author (under the pseudonym 
"Anonymous") of the 2004 book "Imperial Hubris," Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Simon 
regard the American invasion of Iraq as a kind of Christmas present to Osama 
bin Laden: an unnecessary and ill-judged war of choice that has not only become 
a recruitment tool for jihadis but that has also affirmed the story line that 
Al Qaeda leaders have been telling the Muslim world - that America is waging 
war against Islam and seeking to occupy oil-rich Muslim countries.

The American invasion of Iraq toppled one of the Mideast's secular 
dictatorships, the authors write, and produced a country in chaos, a country 
that could well become what Afghanistan was during the years of Soviet 
occupation: a magnet for jihadis and would-be jihadis from around the world; a 
"country-sized training ground" (with an almost limitless supply of arms), 
where these recruits can train and network before returning home, 
battle-hardened and further radicalized. The authors add that "the sad irony" 
of the war is that Iraq now stands as an argument against democratization for 
many in the Middle East: "the current chaos there confirms the fears of both 
the rulers and the ruled in the authoritarian states of the region that sudden 
political change is bound to let slip the dogs of civil war." 

In their last book, "The Age of Sacred Terror" (2002), Mr. Benjamin and Mr. 
Simon looked at how bureaucratic infighting and a lack of urgency on the part 
of government officials contributed to the failure to prevent 9/11. This 
volume, a sequel of sorts, similarly draws upon the authors' experience in 
counterterrorism and their inside knowledge of the national security apparatus, 
and it offers a grim cautionary lesson: "not only are we not attending to a 
growing threat, we are stoking the fire." 

Though the authors' message is harrowing, they write in carefully reasoned, 
highly convincing terms. Much of their narrative ratifies judgments made in 
recent books by other intelligence experts and journalists.

Like Seymour M. Hersh ("Chain of Command") and James Bamford ("A Pretext for 
War"), Mr. Simon and Mr. Benjamin note the Bush administration's penchant, in 
the walk-up to the war, for cherry-picking intelligence to bolster its own 
preconceptions and for setting up alternative intelligence-gathering operations 
that would produce evidence supporting ideas that higher-ups like Deputy 
Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld 
already believed to be true.

Like George Packer ("The Assassins' Gate") and Larry Diamond ("Squandered 
Victory"), they suggest that the shocking lack of planning for a postwar Iraq 
stemmed in large measure from the administration's assumptions about an easy 
American triumph and its reluctance to listen to experts in the military and 
the State Department. And like Richard A. Clarke ("Against All Enemies"), they 
criticize the Bush White House for focusing on the number of Qaeda leaders 
captured or killed, instead of addressing the ideological underpinnings of 
radical Islam, which continually attracts new converts.

In laying out these arguments, Mr. Benjamin and Mr. Simon deftly flesh out 
now-familiar observations with new details and some revealing interviews with 
officials who worked with the administration or observed the decision-making 
process firsthand.

Writing that "the move to war" came "faster than has been reported," the 

[scifinoir2] Protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

[Amy Harlib]

Hello!

We have one last chance to protect the US's largest wildlife
refuge and stop the drilling of oil in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). The House will vote on this issue in the
next week or two. Please protect the wildlife, water, and
cultural resources of this pristine land today. Take action on
this action alert from Union of Concerned Scientists at: 
http://ucsaction.org/campaign/11_4_05_Arctic_budget_vote?rk=W1_Ara11TRcPW

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[scifinoir2] After 34 Years, His Antiwar Song Is Still Not Out of Style

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Finally revealed!  The creator of one of the world's greatest ballads!  (I weep 
every time I hear this song! 



November 5, 2005
After 34 Years, His Antiwar Song Is Still Not Out of Style 
By ANDREW C. REVKIN
In 1969, Eric Bogle, a high school dropout, sometime accountant and former 
singer in a Beatles-style band, emigrated from Scotland to Australia in search 
of money and adventure. 

Before the move, he had started writing songs somewhat like the ones his 
grandfather, a noted Scottish balladeer, used to sing. But nothing amounted to 
much. 

Then in 1971, with Australia embroiled in Vietnam alongside the United States, 
Mr. Bogle sat down to write what would become one of the most admired songs 
about war: "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda."

"I wanted to write an antiwar song but didn't want to denigrate the courage of 
the soldier," Mr. Bogle recalled in an interview on Wednesday before a show at 
the Manhattan nightclub Satalla. "There was too much of that 'baby killer' 
stuff going on." 

Now 61, he is the archetypal touring folk singer, burly and balding and 
bearded, with a remarkably similar-looking sideman, John Munro, and a repertory 
ranging from wrenching to raunchy. (One song tells the tragic tale of Gomez, an 
amorous Chihuahua who meets an untimely end when he tries to mate with a Saint 
Bernard.)

But at every stop, the audiences, many having grown gray along with Mr. Bogle, 
await the tune he wrote 34 years ago.

On Wednesday night, he told the roughly 100 listeners how sometimes "a song 
acts as a key that opens a lot of doors," adding, "This was my key."

In it, he chose to tackle current events by exploring historical ones - a habit 
he has had ever since - and jumping back to Australia's first real battlefield 
test: in Gallipoli, Turkey, in 1915, just 14 years after the Commonwealth of 
Australia was born. 

The song is in the voice of an innocent rural lad who joined the Australian and 
New Zealand Army Corps, or Anzac, in 1915, was handed a tin hat and a gun and 
was shipped with 17,000 others to the killing shores of Suvla Bay, where they 
were "butchered like lambs at the slaughter."

The refrain recounts how at every turn - when troops were dispatched, when the 
maimed came home, when the dead were buried, when the dying veterans marched - 
some martial band played "Waltzing Matilda," the unofficial Australian anthem. 

The song, almost independent of Mr. Bogle's career as a folk performer, took on 
its own life as an antiwar standard.

In a telephone interview from his home in Beacon, N.Y., Pete Seeger called it 
"one of the world's greatest songs." 

"In a few lines of poetry he captured one of the great contradictions of the 
world: the heroism of people doing something, even knowing it was a crazy 
something," Mr. Seeger said. "And he showed how the establishment has used 
music for thousands of years to support its way of thinking."

When it was recorded in Ireland by Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem in 1976, the 
song became the first of three chart-topping hits for Mr. Bogle there. It was 
later recorded by the Irish punk-folk band the Pogues.

Why such resonance with Ireland? "The Celtic people are a highly emotional 
bunch, as we all know, God bless them," Mr. Bogle said. "And my songs are based 
on pure emotion, most of them."

His last American visit was in 2002, and he is wrapping up a two-month tour in 
the next three weeks, including a performance tonight at the Central Unitarian 
Church in Paramus, N.J., and on Nov. 13 at the Towne Crier Cafe in Pawling, N.Y.

His songbook is as variegated as folk music itself (details are at 
ericbogle.net). Songs range from a searing account of an apartheid prison 
hanging to a satirical romp on the nasal style of Bob Dylan and audiences' 
persistent habit of asking Mr. Bogle to play a Dylan song. (He doesn't play 
any.)

There is a relentless juxtaposition of humor and horror. He began the Manhattan 
show with a vaudevillian introductory song alluding to his age: "We're on the 
road, so lock up your grannies." But he returned inexorably to war, as he 
painted wrenching word pictures of children blasted by bombers in Baghdad and, 
in another song that became an Irish hit, explored the sacrifice of Pvt. Willie 
McBride, one of 310 men buried in a 1916 battalion cemetery Mr. Bogle visited 
in northern France in 1975. 

In that song, written as "No Man's Land" and also known as "Green Fields of 
France," Mr. Bogle dwells again on how music is used to salve the wounds of 
war: 

"Did they beat the drum slowly, did they play the pipes lowly?/ Did the rifles 
fire o'er you as they lowered you down?" 

Mr. Bogle ended, as always, with his take on "Waltzing Matilda," which he still 
sees not as a protest song but as a statement of facts and the feelings they 
engender. 

When called back for an encore, he sang "Hallowed Ground," which

[scifinoir2] Just Hang On a Second

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Here's an undeservedly obscure and fascinating dilemma to ponder, thanks to the 
NY Times for pointing this out. 



November 5, 2005
Op-Ed Contributor
Just Hang On a Second 
By MICHAEL BENSON
Ljubljana, Slovenia

SOMETIME between the opening seconds of Tuesday and the closing ones of Friday 
in Geneva, the world's greatest watch-making center, a decision will be made 
that has profound consequences for our way of telling time. What's in question 
is the fate of the leap second. 

The leap second may seem insignificant - a chip off a leap year's block - which 
is why it has been left in the hands of the bureaucrats at the International 
Telecommunications Union, the organization in charge of broadcasting 
international time signals. But what's really at stake is whether we as a 
civilization, for the first time in history, decide to uncouple our 
time-keeping from the rotation of the Earth. That would be, to my mind, a 
serious mistake.

So what is a leap second? It is one way to reconcile the disparity between two 
very different time-keeping systems. One is International Atomic Time - or as 
it is abbreviated by timekeepers, T.A.I. - which is calculated by measuring the 
frenetic vibrations of cesium atoms; it is said to be accurate to within one 
second every 70,000 years. The other has been in force since before history was 
recorded: astronomical time. It's entirely subservient to the Earth's rotation. 
We now call it Universal Time 1, or U.T.1. 

The macrocosmic, astronomical, U.T.1 definition of a second is that it's 
one-86,400th of an Earth day. The microcosmic, atomic, T.A.I. definition of a 
second is that it's "9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to 
the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the 
cesium 133 atom." Put that in your clock and wind it.

Leap seconds allow civil timekeeping to benefit from the precision of atomic 
clocks while also reflecting the reality of a turning Earth. They're necessary 
in the first place because the Earth's molten core rumbles and sloshes, which 
creates a variable spin rate. Meanwhile, the gravitational pull of both the 
Moon and Sun, interacting with the water that covers 70 percent of our misnamed 
planet, gradually slows the Earth down as the eons pass. Radio interferometry 
reveals that the planet's spin is slowing by about two milliseconds per day per 
century. 

The first leap second was in 1972, five years after global time-keeping was 
definitively transferred to a collective aggregate metronome of what are now 
around 200 atomic clocks worldwide, and there have been 21 leap seconds since. 
They're typically the 61st second of the last minute of June or December. 
They're used whenever the disparity between atomic time and astronomical time 
reaches 0.9 of a second. Our current time-keeping regimen, based on atomic 
clocks (T.A.I.) but adjusted to the Earth's rotation (U.T.1) using the 
occasional leap second, is called Coordinated Universal Time (U.T.C). Anyone 
interested in precision timing had better get used to abbreviations.

So why is the leap second in danger of being dragged out the back door and 
quietly strangled, metaphorically speaking? And why is the Bush administration, 
by all accounts, seeking just such a result? Largely, it seems, because many of 
the timing systems we rely on use a pure atomic standard, with no leavening of 
leap seconds. These include most notably the American chain of global 
positioning system satellites. Almost all modern commercial transportation 
systems now rely on G.P.S. If those advocating an end to leap seconds can be 
believed, the disparity between atomic-clock-pegged G.P.S. chronometers and the 
leap-seconds-incorporating U.T.C. clock on your wall complicates navigation and 
raises the prospect of future catastrophic errors. Particularly because this 
discrepancy is, of course, increasing. With time. 

Those who would retain leap seconds say close to the reverse. Killing leap 
seconds might well benefit our high technology, but it will be at our expense. 
Abolishing the leap second will simply export an ever-ratcheting discrepancy 
elsewhere, raising a host of potentially perilous problems, some foreseeable 
and some not. And these will also compound as our days and seasons drift free 
of the clock. 

The most vocal advocates of leap seconds include practically all the world's 
astronomers, who need their systems to conform scrupulously to the Earth's 
rotation. Other threatened constituencies are satellite and deep-space mission 
controllers, and those whose work links them to the rising and setting of the 
sun. And then there are people like myself, who simply believe that our 
corporeal selves are tied to the Earth, or rather the dry bits of a watery 
planet suspended in a seemingly endless void, and that though our sphere may 
well turn there at a tempo w

[scifinoir2] And Sometimes, the Island Is Marooned on You

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 A fascinating ecological phenomenon that is not very widely-known.  I could 
imagine some interesting stories could be made up about living on a floating 
island.



November 6, 2005
And Sometimes, the Island Is Marooned on You 
By PAM BELLUCK
ABOARD A ROWBOAT IN ISLAND POND, Mass. - The island of Island Pond had it in 
for Andrew Renna. 

Or so it seemed one Saturday evening a few weeks ago. In the middle of a 
pounding storm, Mr. Renna looked out across the pond, which borders his 
backyard. 

"It was raining crazy," he recalled. "I said, 'That wind's going to blow that 
thing right over here.' Ten minutes later it did. When it moves, it moves 
pretty quick."

The island, about the size of a football field, made a beeline for Mr. Renna's 
house - crushing his three-foot chain-link fence, swamping his 
red-blue-and-purple flagstone patio, wrecking his dock, flooding his shed, 
hobbling his weeping willow, and drowning the oregano, cilantro, tomatoes and 
peppers in his garden. Then, with an insouciant shrug, it came to a standstill 
in Mr. Renna's backyard, an interloper squatting in stubborn silence. 

"Normally when it floats you can actually hear the roots rip - it sounds like 
ripping up carpet," said Mr. Renna, 51, a roofing and siding sales manager. 
"But this time, it didn't make any noise." 

Island Pond's island has been floating for as long as anyone can remember, 
buoyed by a mat of sphagnum moss and gases from decomposing plants. It is a 
curiosity and sometimes a nuisance for the 20 or so homes around the shoreline 
of this nine-acre pond in Springfield, Mass. 

Sometimes it boings mischievously around as if the pond were a pinball machine, 
sailing, for example, into Richard and Beverly Vears's backyard just hours 
after they moved in. That gave a neighbor a perfect welcome gag: telling the 
Vearses he was a tax collector who would charge them for the extra property. 

Locals, including city officials and the pond's owner, the Roman Catholic 
Diocese of Springfield, which runs the adjacent Cathedral High School, say the 
wandering island is a rarity that must not be tethered, altered or otherwise 
brought to heel. 

"There's only two in North America," said Stan Tenerowicz, environmental 
affairs administrator of the Springfield Conservation Commission. He said that 
12 years ago, Cathedral High tied the island to shore to spare homeowners an 
unwelcome floating visitor, but the conservation commission ordered it 
unchained. 

"Tethering it would be a type of alteration of a wetlands system," Mr. 
Tenerowicz said. "And this is a pretty unique natural resource." 

It turns out, however, that the claim of "two in North America" is apocryphal, 
according to experts on floating islands.

Such islands appear across the country and around the world - familiar enough 
that Minnesota issues removal permits to homeowners, and prevalent enough in 
some lakes in Florida that they are chopped up or pulverized by large machines 
with sharp blades. 

"People who live near a floating island always claim that it is the only one," 
said Chet Van Duzer, author of "Floating Islands: A Global Bibliography." 

Mr. Van Duzer estimates that there are dozens of floating islands, sometimes 
called floating bogs, in several states including California, Indiana, Maine 
and Ohio. Many others once floated but have since been destroyed or become 
land-locked, said Mr. Van Duzer, including ones on Lake Ontario in New York, 
Bolton Lake in Connecticut and Kettle Moraine Lake in Wisconsin. 

"Globally, they're not rare, and in this country they're not rare," said Stuart 
E. G. Findlay, a senior scientist at the Institute of Ecosystem Studies in 
Millbrook, N.Y.

The islands usually form in wetlands, where plants take root in peaty soil or 
sphagnum moss in a shallow lake or riverbed, said Dave Walker, a senior project 
manager with the St. Johns River Water Management District in Florida, where, 
he said, "you can get acres and acres of floating islands on a lake."

When the plants decompose, they release gases that can create buoyancy, he 
said. And if there is a surge in the water level, from a flood or hurricane for 
instance, the peaty mat can break away from the bottom and float. Mr. Walker 
said some islands could even be precipitated by "a large alligator burrowing" 
on a lake bottom. 

The islands, which can be as big as an acre and six inches to six feet thick, 
are rich environments for wildlife, allowing small creatures to outfloat 
predators. Many of the islands sprout trees, which act as sails; the 20-foot 
birches, alders and pines on the Island Pond island can ferry it across the 
entire pond in as little as 20 minutes, residents say. 

In some parts of the world, like Loktak Lake in India and Lake Kyoga in Uganda, 
people live or fish on floating islands, Mr. Van Duzer said.

In Springfield, few people seem to

[scifinoir2] Fw: Pharmaceuticals passing unaltered from humans into nation's waterways

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scary stuff!  Folks, we have to eat healthier food and get more exercise and
stop taking so many pills!!

Pharmaceuticals passing unaltered from humans into nation's waterways

>
> by Tom Pelton (Baltimore Sun; October 16, 2005)
>
> Over the last two years, scientists working on the Potomac River have
> netted 111 smallmouth bass with bizarre sexual traits. The fish were
> males but had eggs growing inside their testes. Researchers found
> many of these gender-bending bass downstream from sewage treatment
> plants in water tinged with a chemical called ethinylestradiol - the
> active ingredient in birth control pills.
>
> More studies are necessary, biologists say, but evidence is mounting
> that trace
> levels of prescription drugs in rivers and streams may be harming
> fish,
> tadpoles, frogs, mussels and oysters. The pharmaceuticals are passing
> unaltered through people's bodies and sewage plants into waterways.
>
> In Georgia and Mississippi, scientists recently discovered that the
> antidepressant Prozac, in water downstream from sewage plants, can
> kill
> tadpoles, stunt the growth of others and befuddle the survivors so
> they swim in
> circles and can't flee from predators.
>
> In Pennsylvania, a biologist reported that small amounts of Prozac
> may cause
> mussels and clams to discharge their sperm and eggs prematurely,
> dooming their offspring. And in Texas, a researcher found that the
> sexual organs of male
> minnows shrank when they were lowered into a river tainted with birth
> control
> drugs.
>
> "We might just be seeing the tip of the iceberg in terms of the
> cumulative
> impact of all this," said Dr. Thomas Burke, associate chairman of
> health policy
> at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Pollution concerns He
> said
> concerns about pharmaceutical pollution are likely to become more
> urgent as a
> growing human population consumes a multiplying number of medications.
>
> "This is an important area we have to study more," Burke said.
>
> The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working with other
> federal offices
> to investigate whether the government should require better sewage
> filtration
> systems to remove drugs before water is discharged, according to the
> agency.
> Pharmaceuticals are not regulated as pollutants, and most sewage
> plants are not
> designed to break them all down.
>
> One stumbling block to adding better filtration systems is the cost,
> which could
> reach $100 million to install advanced technology on each large
> sewage treatment plant, said Shane Snyder, research manager at the
> Southern Nevada Water Authority.
>
> "The water industry has no problem spending the public's money to put
> in new
> [filter] technology," Snyder said. "But the cost might mean that
> fewer schools
> can be built or fewer hospitals."
>
> Vicki Blazer, a fish pathologist with the U.S. Geological Survey,
> began
> investigating smallmouth bass in the Potomac River a few years ago
> when
> fishermen reported that their catch was falling. She worked with
> natural
> resources officials in Maryland and West Virginia, who used devices
> that fired
> electric shocks into the Potomac River to stun hundreds of fish in
> 2003 and
> 2004.
>
> Blazer said she dissected 184 male bass, and found that 111 of them --
>  or about
> 60 percent -- had eggs growing inside their sexual organs. All nine
> male bass
> netted downstream from the Hagerstown sewage plant had this sexual
> abnormality.Fish like these almost never show up in clean rivers, she
> said.
>
> Blazer is looking into the possibility that the birth control drugs
> caused the
> sexual confusion. She also found several other pollutants in the
> river,
> including triclosan, a disinfectant used in soap, and trifluralin, a
> farm
> pesticide. Any of these chemicals could be disrupting fish hormonal
> systems, she
> said.
>
> In an effort to pin down which is causing the mutations, Blazer's
> colleagues
> have shocked an additional 100 fish during the last month at five
> places along
> the lower Potomac River in Maryland, including downstream from the
> Blue Plains
> sewage treatment plant near Washington.
>
> The study is important, Blazer said, because fish with deformed sex
> organs might not reproduce as well. People also draw drinking water
> from the Potomac, and the same chemicals that could be harming fish
> populations might also be hurting humans, she said.
>
> "We use the fish as indicators of ecosystem health, which eventually
> can
> translate into human health," she said. "Other researchers have
> raised concerns
> about declining sperm counts in human males and increases in
> testicular cancer."
>
> (The purification process used by municipal water systems removes
> most of these drugs from drinking water, but not all of them, experts
> say.)
>
> In the Baltimore area, Lynn Roberts, an environmental chemist at the
> Johns
> Hopkins University, received a $500,000 EPA grant to test for d

[scifinoir2] Fw: How is a Rocket like a Guitar?

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Way cool.


NASA Science News for October 21, 2005
Guitars and rockets have a lot in common, but what's good for a musician might 
spell trouble for an astronaut.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/21oct_clintblack.htm?list86684

Check out our RSS feed at http://science.nasa.gov/rss.xml!


You are currently subscribed to snglist as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 

This is a free service.

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or send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] 


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Zimbabwean Activists Attacked take action

[Amy Harlib]

Zimbabwean Activists Attacked
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



 
 
 
   
 
  

Zimbabwean Activists Attacked




On October 25, 2005, pro-democracy activists Officen Nyaungwe, 
Claris Madhuku, Sozwaphi Masunungure, Isaiah Makatura and Wilson Shonhiwa were 
attacked while conducting field work for the Mass Public Opinion Institute.  

The activists were restrained, brought before an assembled crowd, 
accused of acting against national interests, and were beaten for three hours, 
sustaining severe injuries. 

The victims identified their attackers, including a uniformed 
soldier in the Zimbabwean National Army, to the police.  But after a local 
representative of the ruling party intervened, the police refused to make any 
further inquiries or arrests - an unfortunately common occurrence in Zimbabwe 
today. 

Government officials will continue to persecute human rights 
defenders in Zimbabwe with impunity if we do not shine a light on this 
injustice.  Join Human Rights First in calling on the government of Zimbabwe to 
respect the rights of human rights defenders. 


Learn more about attacks of Zimbabwean human rights defenders >>




Click Here to Take Action 
   



   
Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this 
important case. 
 Tell-a-friend!
   


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I'll believe this when I see autos and busses running on this "whatever"!  I'm 
still thinking about "Cold Fusion"!


URL to an article that appeared in the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,3605,1627424,00.html
 
A fuel source that generates this kind of power could make it easy for us to 
colonize space.   If we can figure it out, other races around other stars could 
have figured it out.  So, where are they?

If Mills is wrong, that is a shame and his reputation will be trashed, but if 
he is right, I wonder if there is a drawback in that physics.  Asimov touched 
on this idea in his last good novel  - The Gods Themselves.  Scientists 
discover a great source of energy, but the danger is that Earth, and the rest 
of our our spiral arm, could become a quasar.

First few paragraphs
"Fuel's paradise? Power source that turns physics on its head 

· Scientist says device disproves quantum theory 
· Opponents claim idea is result of wrong maths 

Alok Jha, science correspondent
Friday November 4, 2005
The Guardian 

It seems too good to be true: a new source of near-limitless power that costs
virtually nothing, uses tiny amounts of water as its fuel and produces next to
no waste. If that does not sound radical enough, how about this: the principle
behind the source turns modern physics on its head. 

Randell Mills, a Harvard University medic who also studied electrical
engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, claims to have built a
prototype power source that generates up to 1,000 times more heat than
conventional fuel. Independent scientists claim to have verified the experiments
and Dr Mills says that his company, Blacklight Power, has tens of millions of
dollars in investment lined up to bring the idea to market. And he claims to be
just months away from unveiling his creation.

The problem is that according to the rules of quantum mechanics, the physics
that governs the behaviour of atoms, the idea is theoretically impossible.
"Physicists are quite conservative. It's not easy to convince them to change a
theory that is accepted for 50 to 60 years. I don't think [Mills's] theory
should be supported," said Jan Naudts, a theoretical physicist at the University
of Antwerp.

What has much of the physics world up in arms is Dr Mills's claim that he has
produced a new form of hydrogen, the simplest of all the atoms, with just a
single proton circled by one electron. In his "hydrino", the electron sits a
little closer to the proton than normal, and the formation of the new atoms from
traditional hydrogen releases huge amounts of energy.

This is scientific heresy. According to quantum mechanics, electrons can only
exist in an atom in strictly defined orbits, and the shortest distance allowed
between the proton and electron in hydrogen is fixed. The two particles are
simply not allowed to get any closer.

According to Dr Mills, there can be only one explanation: quantum mechanics must
be wrong. "We've done a lot of testing. We've got 50 independent validation
reports, we've got 65 peer-reviewed journal articles," he said. "We ran into
this theoretical resistance and there are some vested interests here. People are
very strong and fervent protectors of this [quantum] theory that they use."
Rick Maas, a chemist at the University of North Carolina at Asheville (UNC) who
specialises in sustainable energy sources, was allowed unfettered access to
Blacklight's laboratories this year. "We went in with a healthy amount of
scepticism. While it would certainly be nice if this were true, in my position
as head of a research institution, I really wouldn't want to make a mistake. The
last thing I want is to be remembered as the person who derailed a lot of
sustainable energy investment into something that wasn't real."

But Prof Maas and Randy Booker, a UNC physicist, left under no doubt about Dr
Mill's claims. "All of us who are not quantum physicists are looking at Dr
Mills's data and we find it very compelling," said Prof Maas. "Dr Booker and I
have both put our professional reputations on the line as far as that goes."
Dr Mills's idea goes against almost a century of thinking. When scientists
developed the theory of quantum mechanics they described a world where measuring
the exact position or energy of a particle was impossible and where the laws of
classical physics had no effect. The theory has been hailed as one of the 20th
century's greatest achievements."

Chris


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[EMAIL

[scifinoir2] Fw: Important Election Day Hotline

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]


Voters in many states will be deciding important issues by voting Tuesday, 
November 8, 2005. No matter where you stand on any of the issues or candidates, 
all eligible voters should have the chance to cast their ballots effectively. 

If you experience any problem casting your ballot -- finding the polling place, 
voter intimidation, accessibility issues, voting machine problems, provisional 
ballot issues, etc. -- or you witness anyone having voting problems, please 
immediately call 1-866-OUR-VOTE to report the problem. Please let others know 
too... the same number works nationwide. 

Verified Voting Foundation volunteers and staff have developed a new version of 
the "Election Incident Reporting System" (EIRS) to record all problems reported 
to 1-866-OUR-VOTE. Since 2004, hundreds of organizations and thousands of 
individuals in the United States have used EIRS to help protect our right to 
vote and assure that every vote is counted as cast. If you'd like to know more 
about EIRS, please visit VerifiedVotingFoundation.org and Voteprotect.org


Remember: 1-866-OUR-VOTE.  To tell your friends:  
http://www.demaction.org/dia/organizations/vevo/tellafriend.jsp?tell_a_friend_KEY=502


Now go vote! 


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[scifinoir2] Fw: Newsletter #73 Katrina, Eugenics and 'Peak Oil'

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scary and all too plausible.


> Greetings from the Center for an Informed America
> (http://davesweb.cnchost.com/). Please forward this newsletter widely.
> If this was forwarded to you and you would like to receive future
> mailings, e-mail (mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]) a request to be
> added to this mailing list.
>
> NEWSLETTER #73
>  October 23, 2005
> Katrina, Eugenics and 'Peak Oil'
> http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/nwsltr73.html
>
>
>
> So ... I thought that I'd try the old "fake my death and boost sales"
> charade, 'cause I heard that it worked great for the Beatles back in the
> '60s, but it hasn't worked out all that well for me, to tell you the
> truth, which is why, for better or worse, I'm back. Did anyone miss me?
>
> I have a lot of catching up to do, so much so that I don't really know
> where to begin, but I guess I'll start with the following brief news
> story, which I happened to stumble upon while digging deep within a
> recent edition of the Los Angeles Times:
>
> KATRINA'S AFTERMATH
> Cuban Hurricane Preparation Offers Lessons in Organization
> Los Angeles Times
> September 10, 2005; Page A30
>
> HAVANA - Cubans have no Astrodome or cruise ships to house evacuees, and
> meals-ready-to-eat usually consist of rice and beans.
>
> But they have weathered some of the most violent storms the tropics can
> churn up, with surprisingly low death tolls and almost perfect
> compliance with evacuation orders.
>
> Last year, United Nations emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland
> singled out Cuba for praise among Caribbean nations for hurricane
> evacuation planning. When Hurricane Ivan swiped the island last
> September, for example, Cuba didn't record a single death, but 115
> people died regionally. The same month, Hurricane Jeanne killed more
> than 1,500 in Haiti, many drowning in floodwaters.
>
> Now, as analysts and politicians examine how the U.S. government
> responded to Hurricane Katrina - and how to avoid a similar catastrophe
> - some say this communist island may offer a few lessons.
>
> Cuban evacuations are mostly carried out by community groups that take
> cues from the government. The military assists, unarmed.
>
> "Cuba views hurricanes as a top national security priority, and they
> know the drill," said Daniel P. Erikson, Caribbean specialist at the
> Inter-American Dialogue, a Washington think tank. The storms not only
> imperil lives, he said, but threaten Cuba's economic underpinnings:
> agriculture and tourism.
>
> "The drill" Erikson refers to includes yearly military exercises across
> the island, with two-day training sessions for emergency workers,
> simulated evacuations and reviews of emergency plans.
>
> During hurricanes, Cuba's four state-run television stations run nonstop
> evacuation orders and weather reports. The coverage is anchored by
> President Fidel Castro, who coordinates response during live broadcasts
> as if waging battle against an invading army.
>
> "It's an organized system, in a pyramid structure," said Dr. Gabriel
> Diaz Ramirez, a Cuban pediatrician dispatched to Indonesia this year to
> treat tsunami survivors. "We have our government's support."
>
> Perhaps the most striking element of Cuba's disaster preparedness is
> that most residents obey evacuation orders without question. The
> government says it evacuated 1.5 million people in July ahead of
> Hurricane Dennis. Most went to safe zones, and 245,000 flocked to
> state-run shelters.
>
> This contrasts starkly with New Orleans, where thousands decided to ride
> out the storm and were later plucked from flooded attics or perished.
> Others are still refusing to leave, even with toxic muck on the streets
> and armed forces moving in to carry out mandatory evacuations.
>
> Erikson suggested that the smooth displacements were a product of the
> government's tight control over residents.
>
> "It's still a police state," he said. "You could say one advantage they
> may have is the ability to move large numbers of people in a short
> amount of time.
>
> "But of course the political environment in Cuba makes it difficult to
> resist those kinds of orders."
>
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cuba10sep10,1,3142651,
print.story?coll=la-home-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true)
>
> Stupid fucking Commies! Can you imagine a government actually
> demonstrating concern for the health and safety of the people? What are
> they thinking over there? And what is this business of sending in the
> military unarmed, as if they were being sent in to do some sort of
> humanitarian work? How in the hell are you going to issue shoot-to-kill
> orders if your relief workers aren't even packing heat? Those pinkoes
> are just so damn backwards in their thinking. I mean, who the hell
> relies on "community groups" when you can just get on the phone and call
> in some professional mercenaries? (Blackwater Mercenaries Deploy in New
> Orleans) Come to think of it, I bet they don't even have

[scifinoir2] Fw: AFRICAN DIASPORA FILMS! BMCC Cine Club & ADFF 2005

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]



  
 Tuesday, 8 November 2005  
 + BMCC African Diaspora Cine Club, Friday, July 29
  + ADFF 2005 program now online! 

  >>><<<>> 
  VISIT HTTP://WWW.AFRICANDIASPORAVIDEO.COM 
  WHERE YOU CAN BUY SOME OFTHE BEST AND MOST POPULAR FILMS 
  FROM AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA. 
  >>><<<>> 

  >>> BMCC AFRICAN DIASPORA CINE CLUB 

  WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 9 @ 6:30 pm 

  WHERE: Borough of Manhattan Community College
  199 Chambers Street -Room S701
  New York, NY 10007-1097 
  (subway lines: 1,2,3 to Chambers Street) 

  WHAT: FREE screening of OTOMO


  OTOMO
  Germany, 1999, 84mins, drama in German with English subtitles, Frieder 
Schlaich, dir. 

  A powerful film portraying institutionalized racism and police brutality, 
Otomo provides a convincing look at the everyday world of refugees, who are 
continuously surrounded by tension and insecurity. In the summer of 1989, a 
Stuttgart newspaper reported the true story of a West African asylum seeker who 
physically assaulted an intolerant subway ticket-taker; fled, and became the 
target of a city-wide manhunt. Otomo is a sober, fictionalized reconstruction 
of a tale that shocked Stuttgart, and a gripping portrait of how 
institutionalized racism drives a disempowered individual to violence and 
inhumanity.

  West African immigrant Frederic Otomo (Isaach de Bankole Manderlay) lacks 
the proper papers to be hired for the most menial of jobs; he has survived for 
eight years with the help of a Catholic charity. Otomo is the target of verbal 
abuse, is thrown out of his boarding house, and even scorned by neighborhood 
dogs. He feels and looks out of place. A stoic bubbling pot of wrath on the 
run, de Bankole's performance establishes Otomo's essence without 
words-language cannot express the gravity of his situation. As a ticking 
soundtrack counts down his fated minutes, Otomo is helped by a kind, aging 
hippie (Eva Mates In a Year of 13 Moons) and her granddaughter, establishing 
the potential for an inclusive German society..if it is not too late... 


  >>> ADFF 2005 FILM PROGRAM IS NOW ONLINE! 

  WHAT: 13TH NEW YORK AFRICAN DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL
  WHEN: November 25 to December 11, 2005 
  WHERE: Anthology Film Archives, Cleaview 62nd Street, French Institute, 
Schomburg Center and Teachers College, Columbia University 

  More than 80 films from around the globe have been selected to be 
screened over a 17 day period in several New York City theaters.

  Opening on Friday, November 25 at the Anthology Film Archives (2nd Avenue 
& 2nd Street in Manhattan), closing on Sunday, December 11 at Teachers College, 
Columbia University, the African Diaspora Film Festival will feature films from 
over 30 countries, many enjoying their U.S. premiere. Guest filmmakers, actors, 
and media insiders will be in attendance.

  Themes of this year festival include Music in the Diaspora, 
African-American Independent Filmmakers, and Children in the African Diaspora. 
The Festival opens with the Music Theme and the work of independent 
African-American Filmmakers. Filmmaker, novelist and music writer Nelson George 
will host the Opening Night event on Friday, November 25th with the 
presentation of his new film Smart Black People about how black culture in the 
80's impacted America and the US Premiere Urban Soul the work of Afro-British 
filmmaker John Akonfrah on the biggest, sexiest, most glamorous form of pop 
music in the world: R&B.

  The Festival features other African-American filmmakers, several who hail 
from the streets of Brooklyn. They "push the envelope" of reflective 
cinematography with innovative tales including No Problema by Rich Williams 
which outlines the thoughtless job change of love-smitten musician to bank 
robber. Following Bliss is another imaginative U.S. native's rendering of love, 
life and compromise. Veteran African-American filmmaker Bill Greaves is also 
present in the festival with his Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take 2 ½. A total of 22 
films by African American filmmakers will be featured in the festival.

  Other musical offerings with live performances include The Miracle of 
Candeal by Fernando Trueba which shows a historic meeting between 
Afro-Brazilian musician Carlinhos Brown and Afro-Cuban pianist Bebo Valdes. 
Exiles Nina Simone and Papa Wemba, each weighs in with individual concert-based 
documentaries.

  Children are the most vulnerable group of people in Africa, and at the 
same time, they are the hope of the continent. The film Boy Called Twist by Tim 
Greene - the highlight of the South African Night -- changes the setting of 
Dickens' Oliver Twist to South Africa's Capetown where an abandoned street kid 
copes with an uncaring environment. 

  The theme of 

[scifinoir2] Fw: Introducing a New UCS Program Restoring Scientific Integrity

[Amy Harlib]

Introducing a New UCS Program
[EMAIL PROTECTED]



   





It is with pleasure and enthusiasm that I write to 
announce the creation of a Scientific Integrity Program at the Union of 
Concerned Scientists (UCS), led by new Senior Scientist and Director Dr. 
Francesca Grifo. 


When UCS launched the Restoring Scientific Integrity 
Campaign in February 2004, it was conceptualized as a special two-year project 
aimed at preventing political interference in science on issues as diverse as 
global warming and childhood lead poisoning. It quickly became apparent that, 
in a challenging political climate, achieving substantive solutions to this 
problem would require the persistent and energetic engagement of UCS and our 
supporters over the course of several years. 


To this end, UCS has expanded the campaign into an 
ongoing, innovative and effective program charged with protecting government 
science from misuse and pushing for reforms that will improve the way in which 
science informs the policy making process. Click here to learn more about the 
new program's exciting initiatives.  


To date, more than 7,000 scientists, engineers, and 
health professionals, including 49 Nobel Laureates, have signed a statement 
decrying the current situation as unprecedented and calling for reform. I urge 
professionals from these fields who are interested in joining their colleagues 
in signing the statement to click here to help UCS demonstrate fundamental 
concern from throughout the scientific community. 


Similarly, I encourage non-scientists who want to 
demonstrate their support for this program to sign the scientific integrity 
call to action here. 


Scientists and citizens who sign the scientist 
statement and call-to-action have the opportunity to sign up for periodic 
updates from our Scientific Integrity Program staff about the use and misuse of 
science and creative ideas of how to support our efforts. 


Dr. Grifo, who holds a Ph.D. in Botany, comes to UCS 
from Columbia University, where she directed a graduate environmental policy 
workshop and the Science Teachers Environmental Education Program in the Center 
for Environmental Research and Conservation. She previously served as director 
of the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at the American Museum of 
Natural History in New York City. She has experience working on biodiversity 
issues at the National Institutes of Health, at the Biodiversity Support 
Program, and as an AAAS fellow at USAID. To learn more about Francesca, click 
here.  


Your support makes the creation of the new Scientific 
Integrity Program possible. With our increased capacity, UCS will be able to do 
even more to defend science from political interference and improve the way in 
which science informs government decision-making. We look forward to your 
continued involvement in this important endeavor. 

  
 Sincerely,

Kevin Knobloch
President


   



   
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[scifinoir2] Re: KANSAS WRITING OPPORTUNITIES - Humor

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
This is good!  Passing this on

Subject: FWD: KANSAS WRITING OPPORTUNITIES - Humor


> Hey Gang!
>
> Now that the Kansas School Board has spoken,
>
> We need to adjust our science curriculum here in Kansas.
>
> And, of course, some course textbooks need changing.
> So, if you're a writer, you might send your books
> to the State Board of Education. We especially need
> science books. Possible new book titles:
>
>
> Principles of Chemistry to PRINCIPLES OF ALCHEMY.
> Principles of Biology to MYTHS OF DARWIN
> Principles of Cellular and Molecular Biology to WHAT ARE THOSE TINY
THINGS?
> Human Anatomy to NAKEDNESS IS JUST PLAIN WRONG !
> Environmental Science to GLOBAL WARMING? PSHAW !
> Laboratory Safety to WHAT'S A LAB?
> General Nutrition to DON'T WORRY. GOD WILL PROVIDE.
> Ecology to CONNECTIONS? DON'T BELIEVE ANY THEORIES.
> General Genetics to AMINO ACID? WHAT'S THAT?
> Geography to WHY THE SUN TRAVELS AROUND THE EARTH
>



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[scifinoir2] Fw: The DISH Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> Dot's Information Service Hotline
> "Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use"
> Visit The DISH online at www.thedish.org
> Vol. 8 No 45...Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race... 11-11-05
> 
>
> Table of Contents
>
> 1. Intuit's Vibe... Chicago Defender Sends a Man to  Little Rock...
> 2. Bit of History...Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (1912-1999)
> 3. Comments from the Bat Cave
> 4. Hood Notes...School Discipline and Dropout Rates
> 5. News You Use...College Bound?
> 6. Blah!  Blah!...Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO)?  Not!
> 7. Disgruntled
> **
>
> Intuit's Vibe
> The Chicago Defender Sends a Man to Little Rock
> By Gwendolyn Brooks
>
> In Little Rock the people bear
> Babes, and comb and part their hair
> And watch the want ads, put repair
> To roof and latch. While wheat toast burns
> A woman waters multiferns.
> Time upholds, or overturns,
> The many, tight, and small concerns.
>
> In Little Rock the people sing
> Sunday hymns like anything,
> Through Sunday pomp and polishing.
> And after testament and tunes,
> Some soften Sunday afternoons
> With lemon tea and Lorna Doones.
>
> I forecast...And I believe
> Come Christmas Little Rock will cleave
> To Christmas tree and trifle, weave,
> From laugh and tinsel, texture fast.
>
> In Little Rock is baseball; Barcarolle.
> That hotness in July . . .
> the uniformed figures raw and implacable
> And not intellectual,
> Batting the hotness or clawing the suffering dust.
> The Open Air Concert,
> on the special twilight green.
>
> When Beethoven is brutal
> or whispers to lady-like air.
> Blanket-sitters are solemn,
> as Johann troubles to lean
> To tell them what to mean. . . .
>
> There is love, too, in Little Rock.
> Soft women softly
> Opening themselves in kindness,
> Or, pitying one's blindness,
> Awaiting one's pleasure...In azure
> Glory with anguished rose at the root. . . .
> To wash away old semi-discomfitures.
> They re-teach purple and unsullen blue.
> The wispy soils go. And uncertain
> Half-havings have they clarified to sures.
>
> In Little Rock they know
> Not answering the telephone is
> a way of rejecting life,
> That it is our business to be bothered, is our business
> To cherish bores or boredom, be polite
> To lies and love and many-faceted fuzziness.
>
> I scratch my head, massage the hate-I-had.
> I blink across my prim and pencilled pad.
> The saga I was sent for is not down.
> Because there is a puzzle in this town.
> The biggest News I do not dare
> Telegraph to the Editor's chair:
> "They are like people everywhere."
>
> The angry Editor would reply
> In hundred harryings of Why.
> And true, they are hurling spittle, rock,
> Garbage and fruit in Little Rock.
> And I saw coiling storm a-writhe
> On bright madonnas. And a scythe
> Of men harassing brownish girls.
> (The bows and barrettes in the curls
> And braids declined away from joy.)
> I saw a bleeding brownish boy. . . .
> The lariat lynch-wish I deplored.
> The loveliest lynchee was our Lord.
>
>
>
> Bit of History
> Daisy Lee Gatson Bates (1912-1999)
>
> Born on November 12, 1912 in Huttig, a tiny Arkansas mill-town, Daisy Lee
> Gatson never knew her biological parents.  Three white men brutally
> assaulted and murdered her mother.  Gatson's father fled fearing reprisals
> from angry whites that did not want him to seek justice for his murdered
> wife.  Friends of her parents, Orlee and Susie Smith, adopted Gatson; her
> mother's murderers were never prosecuted. Her parents' fate and the racism
> she experienced growing up helped shape Gatson's life, which was devoted
to
> the pursuit of equal opportunity and better conditions for black people.
>
> In 1941, Gatson married Lucius Christopher Bates. The couple moved to
Little
> Rock, Arkansas, where they began the Arkansas State Press.  To improve her
> journalism and business skills, Bates attended classes at nearby Shorter
> College and Philander Smith College.  Arkansas State Press, which became
an
> avid voice of the civil rights struggle, regularly ran articles on police
> brutality, labor rights issues and the plight of black World War II
> veterans.  On returning home after fighting for freedom abroad, black
> veterans were often harassed and subjected to violence and discrimination.
>
> An active National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
(NAACP)
> member, Bates was elected president of the Arkansas chapter.  As leader of
> the NAACP state conference (1952), she participated in litigation to force
> the Little Rock School Board to proceed with an integration program after
> the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown v. Board of Education (1954).  The
> resultant "Blossom Plan" called for integrating the high school.
>
> Bates and other activists were constantly threatened.  Crosses were burned
> on her front lawn; rocks and bombs were thrown at her home.  She was
> arrested several time

[scifinoir2] Fw: The DISH Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

> Dot's Information Service Hotline
> "Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use"
> Visit The DISH online at www.thedish.org
>...Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race...
> 
>
> Table of Contents
>
> 1. Intuit's Vibe...Why Negroes Don't Unite...By L.A. Moorer
> 2. Blah! Blah!...Racist Comments?
> 3. Bit of History...Lena Baker Story (1901-1945)
> 4. Politics Y2K5...Reverse Robin Hood Syndrome
> 5. Hood Notes...Mr. Conservative
> 6. Disgruntled
> 7. News You Use...PARC on Neo-Slavery
> 8. Mailbox
> **
>
> Intuit's Vibe
> Why Negroes Don't Unite
> By Lizelia Augusta Jenkins Moorer (1907)
>
> Why of all the many races in the country where we live,
> Do we find so little union as the Negro race can give?
> Is it lack of love? or color? who will give the reason true,
> Why they cherish opposition more than other peoples do?
>
> We'll examine for a moment, how the Negro race is made,
> Now, we find them all complexions, any hue and ev'ry shade,
> Scraps of all the human races in among them we can find,
> All the many dispositions, ev'ry nation of its kind.
>
> Ev'ry tribe will hang together, though among the Negroes found,
> Which will bring about dissensions, on all questions that abound,
> Ev'ry blood must have a "say so," red or yellow, white or black,
> Differ always in opinion, racial union always lack.
>
> Hark! the whites of this assembly to a special plan agree,
> Lo! the red men now are holding their opinion, don't you see?
> Aye, the blacks must have a hearing in the question of today,
> Yellow folks compose a factor and the same will have a say.
>
> Scripture tells how Ham was tickled by the shame of Noah's plight,
> How his brothers with a mantle shielded Noah from the light,
> Now we find that Ham's descendants keep disgraces well exposed,
> While the children of the others keep a shameful secret closed.
>
> From inheritance the Negro gets his levity and mirth,
> More than any other species of the races of the earth,
> He rejoices in reporting what will bring his neighbor shame,
> Charity extends her mantle and the others cover blame.
>
> When the race discards the fragments, by the others thrown aside,
> And suppresses altogether sinful levity and pride,
> Then begins a cultivation of a union of the race,
> That will strengthen all its borders, which for naught will yield apace.
>
>
>
> Blah!  Blah!
> Racist Comments?
>
> The US suffers from racism, a social disease born out of slavery.  Its
> malignancy permeates every aspect of life in this country from work to
> worship.  It was starkly evident in the federal government's lethargic
> response in aiding black victims of Hurricane Katrina.  For most blacks,
it
> is an everyday fact of life, despite feel-good speeches and blame-black
> diatribes delivered for white consumption by other blacks, such as
> Condoleezza Rice and Bill Cosby.
>
> On Wednesday, the Air Force Academy reprimanded coach Fisher DeBerry for
> saying "African-American kids can run very well. That doesn't mean that
> Caucasian kids and other descents can't run, but it's very obvious to me
> that they run extremely well."  DeBerry's comments created a firestorm of
> criticism among certain groups.  Foolishly, the coach was forced to make a
> public apology.  Was his comment racist?  Hardly!  DeBerry's comments are
> simply outrageous and unacceptable to the dominant members of this society
> because they compliment blacks, rather than put them down.
>
> Watch and listen.  See if DeBerry's comments draw more fire than Bill
> Bennett's comments about aborting black babies to reduce the crime rate.
> Blah on a society that turns deaf ears to truly racist comments and
attacks
> compliments.
>
>
>
> Bit of History
> Lena Baker Story (1901-1945)
>
> Lena Baker was born on June 8, 1901 in the state of Georgia.  Her indigent
> family chopped cotton on the farm of J.A. Cox for barely subsistence
wages.
> Even with work in a laundry, the family was very poor.  As a child, Baker
> chopped cotton too; she received only a sixth grade education.
>
> At age twenty,  Baker and a friend tried to make money "entertaining
> gentlemen."  Because their clientele was white and interracial
relationships
> were illegal in Georgia, the Randolph County sheriff arrested the young
> women; they spent several months in a workhouse.  Ostracized by the black
> community, Baker, a maid, became an alcoholic.
>
> In 1941, Ernest B. Knight hired Baker to take care of him after he fell
and
> broke his leg.  A failed farmer, Knight ran a gristmill in Cuthbert,
> Georgia.  Local residents saw Knight as an abusive brute that carried a
> pistol strapped to his chest.  An illicit relationship developed between
> Knight and Baker.  The town knew he gave her alcohol in return for sex.
>
> In an effort to end the affair, Knight's eldest son persuaded him to move
to
> Tallahassee, Florida; Baker acc

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Did U.S. gov't lie about deadly virus project?

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fascinating science stuff.


* Did U.S. government lie about deadly virus 
project?:
Officials seem to have quietly reversed an 
assurance they gave last month -- that a killer 
virus recently recreated by scientists would stay 
in a secure government facility.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051109_flufrm.htm


* Dolphin games may be more than child's play:
Researchers say the frolics show surprising 
complexity, and may reveal links between playing, 
evolution and culture.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/051107_dolphinfrm.htm


* Drug eyed for learning disabilities, mental 
retardation:
A widely used drug might become the first 
successful treatment for learning disabilities, 
scientists claim.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051107_nf1frm.htm


* How a black hole would look:
Astronomers, saying they're close to capturing an 
unmistakable image of a black hole, explain exactly 
what they expect to see.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051104_blackholefrm.htm


* Researchers induce "sightless vision" in 
volunteers:
Some people think they can't see anything, but can.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051031_blindsightfrm.htm


* Astronomers report catching possible glow of first 
stars:
The first stars in the universe are gone, but the 
light they sent out eons ago may be still reaching 
us.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051102_firststarsfrm.htm




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[scifinoir2] Our Faith in Science

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Words of great wisdom - to be expected considering who says them!


November 12, 2005
Op-Ed Contributor
Our Faith in Science 
By TENZIN GYATSO
Washington

SCIENCE has always fascinated me. As a child in Tibet, I was keenly curious 
about how things worked. When I got a toy I would play with it a bit, then take 
it apart to see how it was put together. As I became older, I applied the same 
scrutiny to a movie projector and an antique automobile.

At one point I became particularly intrigued by an old telescope, with which I 
would study the heavens. One night while looking at the moon I realized that 
there were shadows on its surface. I corralled my two main tutors to show them, 
because this was contrary to the ancient version of cosmology I had been 
taught, which held that the moon was a heavenly body that emitted its own 
light. 

But through my telescope the moon was clearly just a barren rock, pocked with 
craters. If the author of that fourth-century treatise were writing today, I'm 
sure he would write the chapter on cosmology differently.

If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong, then Buddhism will have to 
change. In my view, science and Buddhism share a search for the truth and for 
understanding reality. By learning from science about aspects of reality where 
its understanding may be more advanced, I believe that Buddhism enriches its 
own worldview.

For many years now, on my own and through the Mind and Life Institute, which I 
helped found, I have had the opportunity to meet with scientists to discuss 
their work. World-class scientists have generously coached me in subatomic 
physics, cosmology, psychology, biology.

It is our discussions of neuroscience, however, that have proved particularly 
important. From these exchanges a vigorous research initiative has emerged, a 
collaboration between monks and neuroscientists, to explore how meditation 
might alter brain function. 

The goal here is not to prove Buddhism right or wrong - or even to bring people 
to Buddhism - but rather to take these methods out of the traditional context, 
study their potential benefits, and share the findings with anyone who might 
find them helpful. 

After all, if practices from my own tradition can be brought together with 
scientific methods, then we may be able to take another small step toward 
alleviating human suffering.

Already this collaboration has borne fruit. Dr. Richard Davidson, a 
neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin, has published results from brain 
imaging studies of lamas meditating. He found that during meditation the 
regions of the brain thought to be related to happiness increase in activity. 
He also found that the longer a person has been a meditator, the greater the 
activity increase will be. 

Other studies are under way. At Princeton University, Dr. Jonathan Cohen, a 
neuroscientist, is studying the effects of meditation on attention. At the 
University of California Medical School at San Francisco, Dr. Margaret Kemeny 
has been studying how meditation helps develop empathy in school teachers.

Whatever the results of this work, I am encouraged that it is taking place. You 
see, many people still consider science and religion to be in opposition. While 
I agree that certain religious concepts conflict with scientific facts and 
principles, I also feel that people from both worlds can have an intelligent 
discussion, one that has the power ultimately to generate a deeper 
understanding of challenges we face together in our interconnected world. 

One of my first teachers of science was the German physicist Carl von 
Weizsäcker, who had been an apprentice to the quantum theorist Werner 
Heisenberg. Dr. Weizsäcker was kind enough to give me some formal tutorials on 
scientific topics. (I confess that while listening to him I would feel I could 
grasp the intricacies of the full argument, but when the sessions were over 
there was often not a great deal of his explanation left behind.) 

What impressed me most deeply was how Dr. Weizsäcker worried about both the 
philosophical implications of quantum physics and the ethical consequences of 
science generally. He felt that science could benefit from exploring issues 
usually left to the humanities. 

I believe that we must find a way to bring ethical considerations to bear upon 
the direction of scientific development, especially in the life sciences. By 
invoking fundamental ethical principles, I am not advocating a fusion of 
religious ethics and scientific inquiry. 

Rather, I am speaking of what I call "secular ethics," which embrace the 
principles we share as human beings: compassion, tolerance, consideration of 
others, the responsible use of knowledge and power. These principles transcend 
the barriers between religious believers and non-believers; they belong not to 
one faith, but to all faiths.

Today, our kno

Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Military History

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thank you for sharing this history!  Much appreciated.
Amy


I started the conversation with Blacks in WWI, more fascinating to me
because it's all but lost in the past, and it had to have been impossibly
tough on them in that war. But the following, dealing with Blacks in WWII,
is worth noting, especially today. I can't remember if anyone already posted
about these "Black Panthers".

In Time for Veteran's Day, Heroic All-Black WWII Battalion Memorialized
Date: Thursday, November 10, 2005
By: F. Finley McRae, Special to BlackAmericaWeb.com

In a moving ceremony Thursday at Fort Hood to honor a revered group of World
War II legends, the heroic all-black 761st Tank Battalion, a four-component
statue was unveiled before a grateful audience, which included several of
the unit's alumni. While a number of officers, including Col. Victoria
Bruzese, the garrison commander at the Kileen, Texas, facility, and
currently enlisted men and women, looked on, James Jones, a 761st alumnus,
slowly pulled the heavy black cover off the gray and white statue. Its most
compelling image is of Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers, bent down on one knee,
peering through his binoculars. Rivers was one of a very few blacks to
posthumously receive a Congressional Medal of Honor. None were honored
during World War II or immediately after it.

Jones, who will be 83 in March, served in Europe with the Battalion, the
most decorated unit on either side, Allied or Axis, a unit which was known
as the Black Panthers because of its supremely confident, lethal strikes
against the fearsome German Panzer Division.

The unveiling, timed to coincide with Friday's commemoration of Veteran's
Day, was a belated honor for the 850 men who distinguished themselves in
1944 after their transfer to the Third Army Division, commanded by the
infamous Gen. George S. Patton.

In an interview Thursday morning, Jones, who lives in Laurel, Mississippi,
said he and the surviving 30 or so 761st alumni "are very appreciative to
Beverly Taylor, without whom this statue would not exist."  Taylor, who
served in the Women's Army Corps, began researching the unit's illustrious
history in 1992 and determined that it should be nationally publicized and
promoted. From the seed of that vision and the commitment of other
collaborators, the idea for the statue was born and nurtured. Taylor later
established a 761st Alumni Chapter at Fort Hood.

"I'm happy I've lived to be a messenger and a voice for my comrades-in-arms,
whose service in defense of this country was so extraordinary," said Jones,
focusing on the unit's heroism rather than his own contributions.

That history is vast and began with the unit's assembly in late 1943 when
the 758th, 769th and 760th were folded into the 761st. After training at
Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the unit was sent to Fort Hood, where it was used
as an opposition group to prepare white tank destroyers for combat.

However, like the storied 332nd Fighter Squadron -- reluctantly pressed into
service after the dismal failure of white fighter pilots to protect the
heavy, low-flying American bombers from the Luftwaffe -- the 761st was
rushed into action because Patton's tankers could not contain the Panzers,
much less repel them.

Within three weeks after landing at Bastigone, France and quickly taking
three city's from the Nazis, the 761st, without rest, pushed on to the
Western front to engage the enemy.

The fighting there was fierce, sustained for days and terribly costly to
both sides.

Although the Black Panthers emerged victorious and routed the Panzers -- 
which angered and humiliated Adolph Hitler, who often bragged about their
prowess -- they suffered 425 casualties, half of their men, including the
valiant Rivers.  The Panthers hold the record for the longest consecutive
number of days in combat -- 183, which still stands.

President Jimmy Carter issued a Presidential Citation to the entire unit in
1979.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]





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[scifinoir2] Fw: A very Enlightened Christian - a JOY!

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Not all Christians are idiots like Pat Robertson and the Bushites!  If only
a lot more of them were like this guy!


> Penknife Press introduces another new author, Daniel Hardman.  His debut
> book, Essays from Church, Volume I, is a collection of thoughtful musings
> reminiscent of some of the writings from the 1960s.  The ISBN for the book
> is 0-9741949-6-4.  Here is the introduction.  Visit our website at
> http://www.penknifepress.com for more information.
>
> ?Introduction
>
>   From September 1991 to February 1995, I was stationed at
> Sembach Air Base, Germany, while in the US Air Force. I was serving
> as lay minister in the Base Gospel Service. On February 28, 1993, I
> brought a message for the last Sunday of Black History Month. I did
> not know it then, but that was to be the beginning of one of the
> greatest challenges of my life. Here in essay form are the actual
> sermonettes that followed that message, and made up the part of the
> church service called "Renewing Our Minds."
>   What prompted me to give such a message? No doubt that many
> of those listening were asking the same thing. As I said, it was February,
> but my message was probably more radical than even a black
> congregation was ready for. Yet, during Black History Month militant
> messages are tolerated better. As a result, I was asked by the senior
> minister to do similar messages each Sunday thereafter. Consequently,
> I had been exposing myself to other ways of thinking. I began
> exploring other religions, ideas and concepts to broaden my mind.
> Although it's only spoken of behind closed doors, everyone knows that
> somewhere we, not just blacks but people in general, had taken a wrong
> turn. We needed to get back on the right path, but as I saw it most
> people were just not interested in making any changes. Change is too
> much trouble. Cool to talk about but that's all.
>   It just so happened that was the last Sunday of February, and I was
> the only black minister lucky enough to have the opportunity to bring
> a message during the entire month. The Air Force Chief of Chaplains
> was not concerned that a black congregation might have need of a
> black chaplain. Our out-going chaplain, one of only 88 African
> American active duty Air Force chaplains at that time, had met with the
> chief of chaplains twice to help ensure he was replaced by another
> black chaplain. The Chief was not trying to hear that and in his infinite
> wisdom, appointed us a white chaplain. The Chief of Chaplains must
> have been really angry at Chaplain Cleveland, because he sent us the
> sorriest excuse for a chaplain he could possibly find. This guy was the
> Homer Simpson of chaplains. He was as much a chaplain as Snoop
> Doggy Dog is a Roman Catholic Priest. Needless to say this chaplain
> saw no need for us to participate in Black History Month, instead
> soliciting other white chaplains from other services to come in and
> speak during February.
>   As I proceeded with my weekly segments, he became increasingly
> angry, deliberately going out of his way to stop them. He went so far
> as to report me to the base head chaplain, labeling me a racist. My
> attempts to address social issues were met with what is seen by blacks
> as typical white power resistance. He was successful at blocking me for
> about two weeks, during which time the base chaplain and I had a heart
> to heart talk about my supposed racism. After our session he said he
> could not, in good conscience, prevent me from continuing my weekly
> segments. He didn't necessarily agree with what I was saying, but he
> found no racist motivation and allowed me to continue.
>   The one that really got me in trouble was the sermonette, "In
> Search of the Real Historical Jesus," in which I state that Jesus was a
> dark-skinned man. The African American Heritage Bible contains a
> very detailed genealogical path leading up to the life of Jesus and shows
> without a doubt that Jesus was anything but white. For me to have the
> nerve to say such a thing, and in an Air Force chapel at that, was the
> ultimate slap in the face for a white-bread chaplain. It proved to be a
> slap in the face he would have to live with.
>   Before I left Germany, my young chaplain was in charge of the
> Easter program that included a sketch of the last supper. One Sunday,
> while in the sanctuary I walked up to him and asked if he had found
> anyone to play Jesus. It was immediately following church service, so
> you could say he was compelled to tell the truth. The fear of impending
> doom was all over his face, and I honestly can say that I had never
> done anything so insidious in all my life. So when he said he hadn't, I
> eagerly volunteered. You could hear his brain screaming,
> "No!" Yes, I was his Jesus. I wonder if I was grinning
> outwardly as much as I was inwardly. What could he do? Tell me no.
> Say I wasn't qualified. Tell me he didn't th

[scifinoir2] Re: Have you read this?

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Impeach the lying, murderous bastard already!

> FYI.
>
> George
> - - - - - - - - -
> http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3454470
> The Houston Chronicle
> Nov. 11, 2005, 10:02AM
>
> Poll: Majority questions Bush administration ethics
> Associated Press
>
> WASHINGTON -- Most Americans say they aren't impressed by the ethics and
> honesty of the Bush administration, already under scrutiny for its
> justifications for an unpopular war in Iraq and its role in the leak of a
> covert CIA officer's identity.
>
> Almost six in 10 -- 57 percent -- said they do not think the Bush
> administration has high ethical standards and the same portion says
> President Bush is not honest, an AP-Ipsos poll found. Just over four in 10
> say the administration has high ethical standards and that Bush is honest.
> Whites, Southerners and evangelicals were most likely to believe Bush is
honest.
>
> Bush, who promised in the 2000 campaign to uphold "honor and integrity" in
> the White House, last week ordered White House workers, from presidential
> advisers to low-ranking aides, to attend ethics classes.
>
> The president gets credit from a majority for being strong and decisive,
but
> he's also seen by an overwhelming number of people as "stubborn," a
> perception reinforced by his refusal to yield on issues like the Iraq war,
> tax cuts and support for staffers under intense pressure.
>
> More than eight in 10, 82 percent, described Bush as "stubborn," with
almost
> that many Republicans agreeing to that description. That stubborn streak
has
> served Bush well at times, but now he is being encouraged to shake up his
> staff and change the direction of White House policies.
>
> Concern about the administration's ethics has been fueled by the
controversy
> over flawed intelligence leading up to the Iraq war and the recent
> indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide, I. Lewis "Scooter"
> Libby, on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for his role in
the
> leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's name.
>
> That loss of trust complicates Bush's efforts to rebuild his standing with
> the public. His job approval rating remains at his all-time low in the
> AP-Ipsos poll of 37 percent.
>
> "Honesty is a huge issue because even people who disagreed with his
policies
> respected his integrity," said Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist from
> the University of Texas.
>
> The mandatory White House lectures on ethics for its employees came after
> the Libby indictment, and some people say they aren't impressed.
>
> "It's like shutting the barn door after the horse escaped," said John
> Morrison, a Democrat who lives near Scranton, Pa.
>
> "This week's elections were just a preview of what's going to happen," he
> said, referring to Tuesday's New Jersey and Virginia gubernatorial races,
> both won by Democrats. "People are just fed up."
>
> Some Republicans are nervous about the GOP's political position.
>
> "A lot of elected Republicans are running for the hills in the Northeast,"
> said Connecticut GOP strategist Chris DePino after what he called "a
> waterfall of missteps" by Republicans. Bush and the GOP must return to
their
> message that the United States has been safe from terrorism during his
> administration, DePino said.
>
> Only 42 percent in the new poll said they approve of Bush's handling of
> foreign policy and terrorism, his lowest rating yet in an area that has
long
> been his strongest issue.
>
> The war in Iraq is at the core of the public's unrest, polling found.
>
> In an AP-Ipsos poll in early October, almost six in 10 disapproved of the
> way Bush was doing his job, and Iraq was a dominant factor.
>
> When those who disapproved of Bush were asked in an open-ended question
the
> top reason, they most frequently mentioned the war far ahead of the second
> issue, the economy.
>
> "To use an unfortunate metaphor, Iraq is a roadside bomb in American
> politics," said Rich Bond, a former national Republican chairman.
>
> Many of those who approve of Bush's job performance cited his Christian
> beliefs and strong values, the second biggest reason for support after
> backing his policies.
>
> "I know he is a man of integrity and strong faith," said Fran Blaney, a
> Republican and an evangelical who lives near Hartford, Conn. "I've read
that
> he prays every morning asking for God's guidance. He certainly is trying
to
> do what he thinks he is supposed to do."
>
> The poll of 1,000 adults was conducted Nov. 7-9 by Ipsos, an international
> polling firm, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3
> percentage points.
>
> - - - -
>
> On the Web:
> www.ap-ipsosresults.com
> -0-
>
>
>



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Re: [scifinoir2] Blacks in Military History

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
  Wow Keith,
  Couldn't have said it better myself!
  Amy


  Great info about the tanks' comparative abilities. I didn't know that.
  Things like that caused me to jot down the following thoughts on Friday:


  The article below, which filled me with pride, reminded me of how our
  feelings about military policy don't necessarily reflect on our feelings
  about the people in the military. You're not a traitor or unpatriotic to
  question the ways our soldiers are used. So, just some
  off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts for Veterans Day: 

  Today I feel...

  How hard must it have been for the men to face racism in the military,
  being shot at by enemies without, and hated by their own from
  within...Bittersweet pride for  the 761st and other  Black units, famous
  or forgotten, who had to die to prove they were men...sadness for the
  Blacks who had to kill to be considered men, such as the Buffalo
  Soldiers, pressed to hunt Natives with whom they probably had more in
  common than their own leaders...the loss of my late father, discharged
  due to health problems before he could fight in WWII, but a proud
  veteran nonetheless...and Dad's increasing frustration at
  administrations who sent soldiers to battles that should never have been
  fought; but still, that unflagging pride for the soldier...gratitude
  that we've finally come far enough that people of color can hold
  positions of authority in the military, including the highest of
  all...naive disappointment that Man hasn't advanced to the point where
  fighting is not the solution to our problems...fear that the world is
  spiraling again toward a time of increased military conflict...anger at
  those who've brought us to this point; but mostly, fear...pride, like my
  dad, for the men and women who put on the uniform to protect their
  country...resolve to make sure those men and women don't give their
  lives for the wrong reasons...

  Thanks to those of any color who join the service to protect this
  country.  That I often disagree with our leaders in no way diminishes my
  respect for you.




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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Galaxies may have spit out monster black hole

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Great science stuff.



* Galaxies may have spit out monster black hole:
Two crashing galaxies may have shot out a 
"supermassive" black hole that's soaring through 
space, some astronomers say.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/05_holefrm.htm


* Common pollutant might raise suicide risk, 
researchers say:
There is a hint, they add, that the chemical -- 
whose rotten-egg smell is familiar to many -- may 
boost rates of child neglect and abuse.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/05_h2sfrm.htm


* Researcher: giant ape lived alongside humans:
An ape taller than a moose may have been among the 
early casualties of competition from humans, 
findings suggest.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/05_greatapefrm.htm


* Ancient "Godzilla" crocodile reported:
Researchers describe a sea creature that would have 
made Tyrannosaurus rex think twice before stepping 
into the ocean.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/051110_crocfrm.htm




This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
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with "cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, 
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[scifinoir2] Fw: AFRICAN DIASPORA FF 2005 Tickets Available For Purchase Online!

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Bigger and more exciting than ever!
Cheers!
Amy (Looking forward to being there.)

  
 Sunday, 13 November 2005  
 
  + ADFF 2005 Tickets Now Available For Purchase Online! 

  >>><<<>> 
  VISIT HTTP://WWW.AFRICANDIASPORAVIDEO.COM 
  WHERE YOU CAN BUY SOME OFTHE BEST AND MOST POPULAR FILMS 
  FROM AFRICA AND THE AFRICAN DIASPORA. 
  >>><<<>> 


  WHAT: 13TH NEW YORK AFRICAN DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL
  WHEN: November 25 to December 11, 2005 
  WHERE: Anthology Film Archives, Cleaview 62nd Street, French Institute, 
Schomburg Center and Teachers College, Columbia University 

  NINA SIMONE, MARY J. BLIGE, CARLINHOS BROWN AND MARVIN GAYE TO SPARKLE ON 
CINEMA SCREENS AS ARTMATTAN PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS THE 
  13th ANNUAL AFRICAN DIASPORA FILM FESTIVAL 

  Vocalists and instrumentalists from Bahia to the Bronx, from Paris to 
Kinshasa and Baghdad, will showcase their talent to render offerings ranging in 
genre from jazz to R&B to samba in eight unique films that show tremendous 
musical range and depth when ArtMattan Productions presents the 13 th Annual 
African Diaspora Film Festival in New York City on Friday, November 25-Sunday, 
December 11.

  Eight films from the African continent, the UK, the US and Brazil will 
focus on music and creativity. In all, eighty films from over thirty countries 
will be screened, followed in many instances by Q&A sessions with media 
insiders who will engage the audiences in exploration of the rich world of the 
Global Black Experience in films. Screenings and panel discussions will all 
take place in Manhattan at Anthology Film Archives, Schomburg Center for 
Research in Black Culture, Teachers College at Columbia University, the French 
Insitute/Florence Gould Hall and Clearview 62 nd Street.

  The Festival kicks off with "An Evening with Nelson George." Filmmaker, 
novelist and music writer Nelson George will host the opening night event on 
Friday, November 25 th at Anthology Film Archives (2nd Avenue & 2nd Street) in 
Manhattan with the US Premiere of Urban Soul and the presentation of his film 
Smart Black People.

  Music themed films to be presented in the 2005 Festival are: 

  URBAN SOUL 
  US Premiere 
  UK, 2004, 90 min, documentary, English, John Akomfrah, dir. 
  Urban Soul is a riveting documentary on the biggest, sexiest, most 
glamorous form of pop music in the world: R&B. From the classic soul years of 
the 1970s to the ground-breaking innovations of the 1980s, '90s and the 21st 
century, Urban Soul traces the sounds and styles that have made R&B the 
definitive sound of international pop. Urban Soul's stellar cast of 
interviewees includes Beyoncé Knowles, Wyclef Jean, Mary J. Blige, Kelly 
Rowland, Bobby Brown, TLC, Andre Harrell, Jermaine Dupri, Kenneth 'Babyface' 
Edmonds and Boyz II Men. OPENING NIGHT, Fri. Nov. 25 @ 7:30 pm. Also shown on 
Wed, Nov. 30 at 6:00pm ( Clearview 62 nd St.)

  FELA KUTI: MUSIC IS THE WEAPON
  France/Nigeria, 1982, 53 min., documentary, English, 
  Music Is the Weapon is essential viewing for Fela fans. Filmed in 1982, 
the 53-minute documentary captures the late Nigerian musician/activist at his 
peak. The film features interviews with Fela and a few of his many wives, along 
with performances of "ITT," "Army Arrangement," and other anthems. Mon. Nov. 28 
@ 3:55 pm. Shown with "Femi Kuti, What's Going On?"

  FEMI KUTI, WHAT'S GOING ON?
  US Premiere 
  France, 2001, 52 min., documentary, French with English subtitles, 
Jacques Goldstein, dir. 
  Femi Kuti, son of Fela Kuti, is a gifted saxophonist. We see him in the 
recording studio, in a car, playing tour guide to his homeland: giving in to 
road rage, pointing out gas lines (in an oil-rich country), and bribing a crowd 
of apparent fans to relinquish his vehicle. He's critical, despairing and 
vibrant. Mon. Nov. 28 @ 3:55 pm. Shown with "Fela Kuti: Music is the Weapon." 

  THE MIRACLE OF CANDEAL
  NY Premiere 
  Spain/Brazil, 2005. 133 min., documentary, Portuguese with English 
subtitles, Fernando Trueba, dir. 
  Two giants of Afro-Latino music, Bebo Valdes and Carlinhos Brown, meet in 
the colorful cultural world of Bahia, Brazil. Candeal was a violent favela in 
Bahia that turned into a peaceful community thanks to the social work of 
Carlinhos Brown. He and the Afro-Cuban musician Bebo Valdes, father of Chucho 
Valdes, meet in Candeal with other musicians for a deep mutual exchange of 
music and fascinating conversations about social commitment, racial identity 
and soul. Fri. Dec. 2 @ 7:15 pm and Mon. Dec. 5 @ 6:00 pm. 

  THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ELEGANT
  NY Premiere 
  UK/France, 2004, 70 min., documentary, French with English subtitles, 
George Amponsah & Cosima Spender, dirs. 
  Set to the so

[scifinoir2] In praise of... Harriet the tortoise

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Blimey!  The critter is the oldest known bloody living thing on the bloomin' 
planet!  I'd love to know the secret!

In praise of... Harriet the tortoise 

Leader
Wednesday November 16, 2005
The Guardian 


Great age attracts great veneration and wonder, and there are bucketloads of 
both around to mark the birthday of Harriet, a giant Galapagos tortoise and at 
175 probably the world's oldest living creature. 
Harriet, feasting on her favourite pink hibiscus flowers and enjoying a quiet 
scratch at home at Australia Zoo in Brisbane yesterday, was hatched when Queen 
Victoria was a teenager; she was already a pensioner before the Boer war. Fans 
knew of her from an entry in the Guinness Book of Records, but this very 
special day has brought global attention. 

Not surprisingly, such a long life has had its fair share of troubles. In the 
past visitors would scratch their names on the back of her massive carapace, 
which was also handy for giving piggybacks to children. Nowadays Harriet is 
treated with the respect due to an old lady, though for decades there was 
confusion about her sexual identity: she used to be known as Harry in a trio 
whose other members were Tom and Dick (since deceased) but because she was so 
heavy - 23 stone - no one turned her over to check. So, sadly, she has never 
mated. 

Another cloud is that not everyone believes the enchanting story that she was 
discovered on the Galapagos by Charles Darwin himself and helped him formulate 
his theory of evolution as he sailed away on the Beagle in 1835. A less 
dramatic version has the five-year-old being found by whalers. But Harriet 
doesn't mind at all: among her many other qualities she is remarkably 
thick-skinned.


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[scifinoir2] Re: Reasonably funny

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Very clever!


> I thought that you might enjoy this...
> 
> http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1ldyn/id2.html



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[scifinoir2] Fw: The DISH Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Politics Y2K5 at the bottom is really excellent!

> Dot's Information Service Hotline
> "Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use"
> Visit The DISH online at www.thedish.org
> Vol. 8 No 44...Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race... >

>
> Table of Contents
>
> 1. Intuit's Vibe...Pipe and Can...By Anonymous (17th Century)
> 2. Hood Notes...Tobacco Dangers
> 3. Bit of History...Tobacco (1400-2000)
> 4. Blah!  Blah!...Black Tobacco Ads...By Renoir Whitney Gaither
> 5. News You Use...Great American Smoke-Out
> 6. Politics Y2K5...Tobacco Ruled Supreme
> 7. Comments from the Bat Cave
> 8. Disgruntled
> 9. Mailbox
> **
>
> Intuit's Vibe
> Pipe and Can
> By Anonymous (17th Century)
>
> The Indian weed witherèd quite;
> Green at morn, cut down at night;
> Shows thy decay: all flesh is hay:
> Thus think, then drink Tobacco.
>
> And when the smoke ascends on high,
> Think thou behold'st the vanity
> Of worldly stuff, gone with a puff:
> Thus think, then drink Tobacco.
>
> But when the pipe grows foul within,
> Think of thy soul defiled with sin,
> And that the fire doth it require:
> Thus think, then drink Tobacco.
>
> The ashes, that are left behind,
> May serve to put thee still in mind
> That unto dust return thou must:
> Thus think, then drink Tobacco.
>
> When  as the chill Charokko blows,
> And Winter tells a heavy tale;
> When pyes and daws and rooks and crows
> Sit cursing of the frosts and snows; then give me ale.
>
> Ale in a Saxon rumkin then,
> Such as will make grimalkin prate;
> Bids valour burgeon in tall men,
> Quickens the poet's wit and pen, despises fate.
>
> Ale, that the absent battle fights,
> And frames the march of Swedish drum,
> Disputes with princes, laws, and rights,
> What 's done and past tells mortal wights,
> And what 's to come.
>
> Ale, that the plowman's heart up-keeps
> And equals it with tyrants' thrones,
> That wipes the eye that over-weeps,
> And lulls in sure and dainty sleeps; th' o'er-wearied bones.
>
> Grandchild of Ceres, Bacchus' daughter,
> Wine's emulous neighbour, though but stale,
> Ennobling all the nymphs of water,
> And filling each man's heart with laughter-
> Ha! Give me ale!
>
>
>
> Hood Notes
> Tobacco Dangers
>
> From the Haitian word tabaco, tobacco is the common name applied to the
> plant genius Nicotiana.  Tobacco is highly addictive and toxic; its
> habit-forming properties or narcotic effects come from nicotine, a
colorless
> oily alkaloid.  Given widespread tobacco use, nicotine is the most
generally
> used of all narcotics.  A toxin, even small doses of nicotine ingested in
> smoking causes blood-vessel constrictions, raised blood pressure, nausea,
> headache and impaired digestion.
>
> In addition to a host of known health risks associated with smoking, new
> studies point to other dangers, including infertility, an elevated risk of
> prostrate cancer and thin bones.
>
> A recent study conducted by doctors at the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate
> Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow show men that have a defective
> version of the NAT2 enzyme, which helps expel toxins from the body, are at
> an increased risk of prostrate cancer, if they use tobacco.  Several
studies
> outside India earlier showed NAT2 activity can influence susceptibility to
> certain cancers.
>
> According to orthopedic specialist Michael Zuscik of the University of
> Rochester, smokers who break bones require longer to heal, and smoking
> contributes to bone-thinning osteoporosis.  The US Department of Defense
has
> awarded Zuscik a $1.4 million grant to study the danger smoking posses for
> soldiers injured in combat.
>
>
>
> Bit of History
> Tobacco (1400-2000)
>
> Native Americans widely use tobacco before Christopher Columbus landed in
> the West Indies (1492).  They cultivated and prepared it for smoking,
> chewing and snuffing.  North American natives mainly smoked cigars and
> pipes.  Some chewed the leaf.  In South America, they made snuff.
>
> When Spaniards landed in Mexico (1519), natives cultivating tobacco
believed
> it possessed great curative powers.  According to early authorities, the
> Spaniards began cultivating tobacco in Haiti before 1535.  By the 1600s,
the
> Spanish and Portuguese had developed an important trade in tobacco between
> Europe, the West Indies and South America.
>
> After his 1555 visit to the Orinoco forests of South America, André Thevet
> carried tobacco seeds back to France, where the first tobacco was grown
the
> following year. Europeans paid little attention to the plant until Jean
> Nicot, the ambassador to Portugal (1559-1561), introduced it to the royal
> court.  Named after Nicot, the genius of tobacco is Nicotiana.
>
> Sir Richard Grenville, following his return to England from Virginia
(1585),
> introduced pipe smoking as practiced by the Indians.  The Indian pipe of
> peace was smoked in common by those atte