Re: [scifinoir2] Megan Fox's Scary Box Office Problem

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
I saw Jennifer's Body and I loved both female leads and found the film very 
entertaining for its genre.  But then, I'm an older woman over 50.
Amy

Subject: [scifinoir2] Megan Fox's Scary Box Office Problem


> From Entertainment Weekly, October 9, 2009:
>
> "Jennifer's Body" deadly $6.8 million debut is attributed to Megan Fox's 
> "sexy-beast" persona proving off-putting to women, without whom a horror 
> movie don't stand a chance.  "The genre is driven by the female audience, 
> and I don't know that girls relate to her," says the executive.  "Megan 
> leads with pure, raw sexuality, and for girls it's a turnoff."
>
> Fox's drawing power will be tested again with next summer's western "Jonah 
> Hex," aimed at her core: young guys.
>
> "If I were cutting the "Hex" trailer," says a studio strategist, "I'd make 
> sure she was in as much of it as possible - in compromising positions."
>
> I imagine it would do even better if she could be raped during the movie.
>
> ~(no)rave!
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your SciFiNoir Profile at
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo!
>  
> Groups Links
>
>
>






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06:19:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Zombieville! University of Florida plan tackles invasion of undead

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  ROTFL!
  Amy

  Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Zombieville! University of Florida plan tackles 
invasion of undead




  It's an evil conspiracy by the New World Order, I tell ya!

  "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody 
hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik





--
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  From: ravena...@yahoo.com
  Date: Mon, 5 Oct 2009 17:09:09 +
  Subject: [scifinoir2] Zombieville! University of Florida plan tackles 
invasion of undead

GAINESVILLE, FLA. - The University of Florida's response plans for a zombie 
apocalypse are no longer available for public consumption.

  Spokesman Steve Orlando said late last week that the university removed a 
link to a disaster recovery exercise, which detailed how the school could 
respond to an outbreak of the undead.

  Orlando said officials felt the joke "didn't really belong" on the site, 
which also included plans for dealing with hurricanes and pandemics.

  The exercise lays out the university's response to attacks by "flesh-eating, 
apparently life impaired individuals." It notes that a zombie outbreak might 
include "documentation of lots of strange moaning."

  Orlando said the employee who wrote the gag wasn't punished.





--
  Hotmail: Powerful Free email with security by Microsoft. Get it now. 


  


--



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06:19:00

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Could birth control pills alter mate choices?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Interesting science stuff.

- Original Message - 
From: World Science 
To: emailn...@world-science.net 
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:40 PM
Subject: World Science: Could birth control pills alter mate choices?


* Could birth control pills alter mate choices?:
Contraceptive pills may alter women's abilities to
choose, compete for and retain mates, scientists
say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091007_contraceptives


* Huge "hidden" Saturn ring found:
Astronomers are reporting the discovery of
largest-known planetary ring in the Solar
System.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091007_saturn


* Buried coins may reveal population histories:
Hidden hoards can help reveal the population trends
of a given time period, a new study suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091005_hoards


* Color plays "musical chairs" in brain:
A color divorced from the shape to which it
"belongs" seems to go into another one, scientists
have found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091004_color






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
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scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


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"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
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cancel the old one.








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05:18:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Disney/Marvel Mashup

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
ROTFL!   THESE ARE GREAT!
Amy
  - Original Message - 
  From: Mr. Worf 
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 4:45 AM
  Subject: [scifinoir2] Disney/Marvel Mashup













   
  Disney acquired Marvel Comics for $4 billion. But how will Marvel's cast of 
characters react to this move?...

   

   


   

   

   

   



   

   

   

  animated...

   

   


   



   

   



   

   

   

   

   

   









   

   

   

   



   

   

   

   



   

   

   

   





   


  -- 
  Bringing diversity to perversity for over 9 years! 
  Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/



  


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19:11:00

[scifinoir2] The Yes Men Punk the Chamber on Climate Change

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
This got great coverage on www.democracynow.org!



http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/10/yes-men-punk-chamber 

The Yes Men Punk the Chamber

- By Kate Sheppard | Mon October 19, 2009 9:31 AM PST



The Chamber of Commerce stunned DC on Monday by calling a last-minute press 
conference to announce a dramatic about-face in its climate policy-it would not 
only stop opposing the Kerry-Boxer climate bill but would work with them to 
make it better. But the whole thing turned out to be a hoax mounted by the Yes 
Men, a notorious band of anti-corporate pranksters.

Reporters received a press release early Monday stating that the Chamber would 
be "throwing its weight behind strong climate legislation" at an event at the 
National Press Club in downtown Washington, DC. But when I and others showed 
up, we were met by a fellow dressed in a suit looking like a typical corporate 
PR man. This wasn't Chamber President and CEO Tom Donohue. And I recognized him 
as Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum. (I've written about the group previously.) He soon 
was telling reporters, "We at the Chamber have tried to keep climate science 
from interfering with business. But without a stable climate, there will be no 
business."

The Yes Men posted text of the fake speech on a fake website that closely 
mirrors the actual Chamber site. There were a couple of tell-tale signs that 
there might be some funny business going on: The speech was to come from "Tom 
Donahue," while the actual CEO of the Chamber is named "Tom Donohue." And as 
TPM pointed out, the press release announcing the event was issued by one Erica 
Avidus, whose last name is Latin for "greedy."

As one might expect, the real Chamber was none too pleased. Eric Wohlschlegel, 
spokesman for the US Chamber, showed up and protested loudly during the event. 
"This is a fraudulent press conference!" he yelled. Later he could be heard 
asking a Press Club employee how they could host this kind of stunt. "How could 
someone call and represent the Chamber in this way?" he asked. "We do a lot of 
events here. We're very supportive of the Press Club."

The Press Club wasn't very happy either. An employee was overheard telling one 
of the organizers that they "could have canceled it based on your illegal 
behavior."

Surely the reporters who showed up were also miffed. I initially fell for the 
press release, but was thankfully tipped off to the scam before the event. But 
reporters for Reuters, Greenwire and other news organizations showed up to 
cover the event, and Reuters, basing its reporting on the press release, posted 
a piece proclaiming that the Chamber had made an "about face" and "no longer 
opposes climate change legislation," which was republished on the Washington 
Post and New York Times sites. National Journal took the bait as well.

Reuters ran a correction a little while later. Most reporters at the event, 
however, were utterly confused. "Which one is the real Chamber?" one asked.

The Yes Men, and their allies at the Avaaz Action Factory who helped coordinate 
the event, were pleased with the latest in their series of 
climate-change-related stunts. Recent efforts include a fake issue of the New 
York Post proclaiming "We're Screwed!" that was distributed in New York during 
the United Nations Climate Summit; or their "Survivaball" system for 
withstanding climate change (a.k.a a "gated community for one"). Over the 
years, the Yes Men have honed an expertise in elaborate pranks that call 
attention to corporate misbehavior (see the latest issue of Mother Jones for a 
piece by Dave Gilson on the Yes Men's MO and the changing role of the prank in 
the age of Borat). "It definitely does get attention for causes," said 
Bichlbaum. "It definitely gets coverage about things, and points out obvious 
things. Like right now the Chamber has this troglodytic stance on climate 
change, completely ridiculous."

UPDATE: It appears CNBC also bit on the fake story.

SEE ALSO:
US Chamber of Commerce responds to Yes Men hoax
A Yes Man talks to Mother Jones about the Chamber Prank
Kate Sheppard talks to Rachel Maddow about the Yes Men stunt
US Chamber spends a record $300,000 per day on lobbying

 

video of @TheYesMen press conference, interrupted by the *actual* Chamber of 
Commerce: http://sn.im/yesmen1019











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18:42:00
<>

Re: [scifinoir2] Question: The importance of historical context?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Absolutely!
Amy  (Big fan of the Planet of the Apes films)




  IFC is running a Planet of the Apes marathon this weekend. What I didn't know 
was that there were several short documentaries about the screenwriters of the 
movie, and how the movie was made.  Two of the writers of the screenplay were 
blacklisted during the McCarthy hearings. That and the civil rights struggles 
during the 1960s deeply influenced the Planet of the Apes.  

  For many years I often suspected that there was a large amount of subtext in 
the film series but I wasn't sure of it. After learning more about the writers 
and their struggles, my ideas were confirmed. 

  My question to you all is, do you think that historical context plays an 
importance in the creation of a good story? 

  -- 



  


--



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07:53:00

[scifinoir2] Re: [holdstock-l] Sad news

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
This is horribly tragic news.  What a profound loss!
Condolences.  HE WILL BE MISSED!
Amy

Subject: [holdstock-l] Sad news


> Dear all,
> 
> At 4 o'clock this morning Rob Holdstock passed away.
> 
> He had been in intensive care since the 18th of November when he 
> collapsed due to an E. coli infection.
> 
> I'm heartsick to have lost a dear friend.
> 
> My sincere sympathies to his partner Sarah Biggs and both their families.
> 
> Rob was one of the best fantasy writers of his generation, and was a man 
> with a huge appetite for life. I'm deeply saddened that he has been 
> taken from us so soon at only 61 years old.
> 
> Maura
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Robert Holdstock Web Site:
> http://robertholdstock.comYahoo! Groups Links
> 
> 
> 

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Do black holes zap galaxies into existence?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff.

- Original Message - 
From: World Science 
To: emailn...@world-science.net 
Sent: Wednesday, December 02, 2009 5:22 AM
Subject: World Science: Do black holes zap galaxies into existence?


* Do black holes zap galaxies into existence?
Astronomers say they may have solved a long-debated
chicken-and-egg problem.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091201_galaxy


* From chimps, new clues to language origins:
Chimps seem to use the left half of the brain to
communicate with gestures -- just as humans do to
talk, researchers have found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091116_chimps


* Particle smasher becomes world's most 
powerful:
After a year of troubles, the Large Hadron Collider
is back.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091130_lhc


* Our oceans, extraterrestrial material?:
A conventional view that the atmosphere and oceans
came from vapors emitted during volcanism may be
wrong, a study says.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091117_oceans.htm


* America's food waste laying "waste" to 
environment:
Food waste contributes to global warming,
researchers warn.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091125_waste


* How could they? Poop-eating apes prompt 
quest for answers:
Nature can be beautiful. Elegant. Graceful. But 
not always.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091110_coprophagy


* Video shows Saturn's northern lights:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091127_auroras
* Scientists make plastic without using 
fossil fuels:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091124_plastic
* Road rage? Gas fumes may heighten 
aggression:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091123_vapor
* Blame game is "contagious":
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091120_blame
* Dung evidence exonerates humans in 
mammoth mystery:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091119_mammoth
* Lunar water "confirmed":
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091113_moon
* Stars' chemistry could give away 
planetary presence:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/09_lithium
* Ants could inspire military strategies:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/09_ant-strategies
* Language learning may start in womb:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091105_babies






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
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scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
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leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


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This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
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Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
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along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
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the original article is optional.








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14:32:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Who else is looking forward to "Avatar"?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Me too!
Amy
  - Original Message - 
  From: Tracey de Morsella 
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 10:10 AM
  Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] Who else is looking forward to "Avatar"?





  I'm there

   

  From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On 
Behalf Of George Arterberry
  Sent: Saturday, December 12, 2009 4:41 AM
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [scifinoir2] Who else is looking forward to "Avatar"?

   






  Reviews I've read were generally positive 


   











  


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02:38:00

[scifinoir2] Enroute to the sixth extinction

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Thanks for this, passing it on.

Enroute to the sixth extinction


atimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-corwin30-2009nov30,0,7760875.story

latimes.com

Opinion

The sixth extinction

Somewhere on Earth, every 20 minutes, one animal species dies out. At this 
rate, we will lose 50% of all species by the end of the century. Time is 
running out to turn the tide.

By Jeff Corwin

November 30, 2009


There is a holocaust happening. Right now. And it's not confined to one 
nation or even one region. It is a global crisis.

Species are going extinct en masse.

Every 20 minutes we lose an animal species. If this rate continues, by 
century's end, 50% of all living species will be gone. It is a phenomenon 
known as the sixth extinction. The fifth extinction took place 65 million 
years ago when a meteor smashed into the Earth, killing off the dinosaurs 
and many other species and opening the door for the rise of mammals. 
Currently, the sixth extinction is on track to dwarf the fifth.

What -- or more correctly -- who is to blame this time? As Pogo said, "We 
have met the enemy, and he is us."

The causes of this mass die-off are many: overpopulation, loss of habitat, 
global warming, species exploitation (the black market for rare animal parts 
is the third-largest illegal trade in the world, outranked only by weapons 
and drugs). The list goes on, but it all points to us.

Over the last 15 years, in the course of producing television documentaries 
and writing about wildlife, I have traveled the globe, and I have witnessed 
the grim carnage firsthand. I've observed the same story playing out in 
different locales.

In South Africa, off the coast of Cape Horn, lives one of the most feared 
predators of all -- the great white shark. Yet this awesome creature is 
powerless before the mindless killing spree that is decimating its species 
at the jaw-dropping rate of 100 million sharks a year. Many are captured so 
that their dorsal fins can be chopped off (for shark fin soup). Then, still 
alive, they are dropped back into the sea, where they die a slow and painful 
death.

Further east, in Indonesia, I witnessed the mass destruction of rain forests 
to make way for palm oil plantations. Indonesia is now the world's leading 
producer of palm oil -- a product used in many packaged foods and cosmetic 
goods -- and the victims are the Sumatran elephant and orangutan. These 
beautiful creatures are on the brink of extinction as their habitats go up 
in smoke, further warming our planet in the process.

One day while swimming off the coast of Indonesia, I came across a river of 
refuse and raw sewage stretching for miles. These streams and islands of 
refuse now populate all our oceans; in the middle of the Pacific, there is 
an island of garbage the size of Texas. This floating pollution serves to 
choke off and kill sea turtles -- driving them closer to extinction. At the 
same time, the coral reefs where sea turtles get their food supply are dying 
due to rising sea temperatures from global warming. To top it off, sea 
turtles are hunted and killed for their meat -- considered a delicacy in 
many Asian countries. It is an ugly but altogether effective one-two-three 
punch for this unique species.

It's important to understand that this is not just a race to save a handful 
of charismatic species -- animals to which we attach human-inspired values 
or characteristics. Who wouldn't want to save the sea otter, polar bear, 
giant panda or gorilla? These striking mammals tug at our heartstrings and 
often our charitable purse strings. But our actions need to be just as swift 
and determined when it comes to the valley elderberry longhorn beetle or the 
distinctly uncuddly, pebbly-skinned Puerto Rican crested toad or the 
black-footed ferret, whose fate is inextricably intertwined with that of the 
prairie dog. The reality is that each species, no matter how big, small, 
friendly or vicious, plays an important and essential role in its ecosystem. 
And we're in a race to preserve as much of the animal kingdom as possible.

Meanwhile, around the planet there are massive die-offs of amphibians, the 
canaries in our global coal mine. When frogs and other amphibians, which 
have existed for hundreds of millions of years, start to vanish, it is a 
sign that our natural world is in a state of peril. Bat and bee populations 
are also being decimated. Without bees, there will be no pollination, and 
without pollination, the predator that is decimating these other species --  
humankind -- will also be headed toward its own extinction. Yes, there is a 
certain irony there.

This was all brought home to me in an intimate way after a recent trip to 
Panama. My young daughter, Maya, asked if she could accompany me on my next 
trip there so that she could see one of her favorite animals -- the 
http://frogPanamanian golden frog -- up close and personal in the jungle. 
Sadly, I had to tell her no. This small, beau

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Study turns pigeons into 'art critics'

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff.


* Study turns pigeons into "art critics":
A Japanese researcher is reporting that he has
trained birds to tell apart "good" and "bad"
children's paintings.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090618_pigeons-art


* Giant black holes found to be even heavier than 
thought:
New findings may affect the way astronomers theorize
about galactic evolution.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090607_blackholes


* "Guilty look" in dogs mostly owners' fantasy, 
scientists say:
People may see "guilt" in a dog's body language when
they think the dog did something wrong - even if it didn't.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090615_dog


* Researchers find "a touch of glass" in metal:
Metals and ceramics have more in common with glass
than has been previously recognized, a new study
indicates.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090618_polycrystal


* Lion tamers step aside: beasts could be tamed 
through genes
Recent research raises the prospect that humans
could tame "untameable" species in new ways.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090612_tameness


* Brain energy use proposed as key to under-
standing consciousness:
Some researchers are proposing a new approach
to understanding a mysterious state of being.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090617_energy


* Birds didn't come from dinosaurs, study 
suggests :
New findings about bird breathing abilities
challenge entrenched ideas, some scientists
say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090610_dinosaur






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


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This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
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Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
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along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of 
the original article is optional.

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Monkeys live longer after eating lighter, study finds

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
- Original Message - 
From: World Science 
To: emailn...@world-science.net 
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 11:04 AM
Subject: World Science: Monkeys live longer after eating lighter, study finds


* Monkeys live longer after eating lighter: 
study
Cutting calories by 30 percent seems to have
remarkable effects, scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090709_caloric


* A "theory of everything" is said to solve its first 
real-world problem:
String theory, which postulates extra dimensions,
has long been criticized for making promises that it
failed to live up to.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090707_string


* Could coffee reverse Alzheimer's?:
Studies with mice are suggesting surprising new
possibilities for treating the memory disorder,
according to researchers.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090705_alzheimers


* People only sometimes seek out opposing views, 
research finds:
People tend to avoid ideas they disagree with -- but
some factors can prompt them to seek out such points
of view, scientists report.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090702_opinion.htm


* Finding may help explain giant black holes:
Astronomers are reporting that they have discovered
a new class of black holes: mid-sized ones.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090701_blackhole


* Scientists look to bat caves for "fountains of 
youth":
Scientists are batty over a finding they say could
lead to a breakthrough -- significantly longer lifespans.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090701_tadarida


* Scientists report capturing first image of memories 
being made:
Biologists say they have captured the first image
of a mechanism underlying long-term memory formation.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090625_memory


* Flute said to be oldest handcrafted musical 
instrument:
Early modern humans may have been dancing to
bird-bone flutes as early as 35,000 years ago,
archaeologists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090625_flute


* Oceans in Enceladus? Scientists can't decide:
Two contrasting findings are leaving researchers
unsure whether a distant moon has underground
oceans.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090624_enceladus


* Need something? Talk to my right ear!:
Most of us prefer to be addressed in our right ear,
and are more likely grant a request when we hear it
from the right, an unusual investigation has found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090618_hemisphere-bias






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


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05:55:00

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] "Moon" puts fiction back in science fiction

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
I saw Moon and loved it!  It's that rare thing - an SF film that actually has 
an intelligent plot and good characterization as well as excellent visuals.  
It's still playing in a couple of art houses here in NYC.

Cheers!
Amy





  Not to stir you up again, Martin, but that's the slight thing that worries me 
about the new Star Trek. More focus on the gadgetry and FX than the original, 
and I wince when I hear people say (as the Onion spoofed) that it was "fun!". 
As if that's all there is to "Trek" to be meaningful, and all they want going 
forward.

  - Original Message -
  From: "Martin Baxter" 
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Friday, July 10, 2009 4:02:21 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
  Subject: [RE][scifinoir2] "Moon" puts fiction back in science fiction




rave, this draws me to the movie more than its initial premise.

Also reminds me of an argument I had with my Last Ex, her decrying 
science fiction for being "little more than flashy lasers and zoomy 
spaceships". If I were still on speaking terms with her, I'd forward her this.





  -[ Received Mail Content ]--
  Subject : [scifinoir2] "Moon" puts fiction back in science fiction
  Date : Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:53:12 -
  From : "ravenadal" 
  To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhIB0mqbPiE 

  http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/movies/50384927.html 

  Lonely man in the 'Moon' 

  By Duane Dudek of the Journal Sentinel 

  Posted: July 9, 2009 

  "Moon" is one small step for mankind. 

  It puts the fiction back into science fiction, not because it's 
unbelievable but because it's a life-size and plausible portrait of our daily 
gravity. 

  Too many genre films are virtual, superheroic variations on arbitrary 
themes and are slaves to the digital technologies that allow them to portray 
anything. 

  The less-is-more aesthetic of "Moon," by comparison, is a reminder 
that true creativity is a function of ideas and imagination. In much the same 
way we take for granted the fact that science drives our lives in countless and 
invisible ways, "Moon" takes a satisfyingly pragmatic approach to the 
extraordinary. 

  And in the process, it puts a human face and heart at the center of 
its universe - a man in the moon, if you will. 

  Sam Rockwell portrays the only human employee at a lunar factory 
where his companion is a HAL-like computer named Gerty, voiced by Kevin Spacey. 

  For technical reasons, Rockwell cannot communicate directly with 
home; he sees his daughter grow up in tape-delayed messages from his wife and 
watches old sitcom reruns. Rockwell is just two weeks away from completing a 
three-year service contract and returning to Earth. If he is going a bit buggy, 
talking to his plants and seeing things, these seem a reasonable response to 
his isolation. 

  Unless, of course, they represent something else. 

  Perhaps things are not as they seem. Perhaps he is not really alone. 
Or perhaps he is more alone than he knows. 

  Lunacy runs in the family of director Duncan Jones: His 
singer-songwriter father, David Bowie, imagined all manner of star men, space 
oddities and spiders from Mars. But if there is an 
apple-doesn't-fall-far-from-the-tree quality to the material, the approach has 
its roots in the golden age of science fiction. 

  The miniatures, matte paintings and digital effects do not dazzle; 
like Rockwell's space suit worn with use, they add a scruffy realism. The way 
Jones' camera looms over cramped spaces like a surveillance video adds a Big 
Brother feel to the piece. 

  And the edgy, slightly crazed Rockwell, practically the only actor in 
the film, is a sympathetic, cautionary figure howling at the moon. 

  "Moon" is not about the dangers of technology, but mankind's misuse 
of it. 

  Even before President John Kennedy vowed to make landing on the moon 
a national priority, the exploitation of it for war or profit seemed 
inevitable. "Moon" portrays such possibilities, in service of some greater 
good, as the banal oppression of the very qualities that make us human. 

  E-mail: ddu...@journalsentinel.com 







http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQdwk8Yntds  




  


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07:05:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Question: When does the hate stop and human decency begin?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  Much as I disagree with The President's betrayals of every change we can 
believe in - becoming President 'Obusha' essentially, this kind of racist 
insanity has got to stop.  We need a whole lot of educating, starting at very 
young ages.

  I voted for Cynthia McKinney,
  Amy




Hate to post this, but I found this from a Princeton professor friend 
of mine.


http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=101100539206&h=Wq46x&u=HJmBo&ref=nf 




  


--



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08:20:00

[scifinoir2] A Cosmic Call to Nearby Stars

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
A Cosmic Call to Nearby Stars


> Link to an interesting page on Astronomy Picture of The Day
> _http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090712.html_ 
> (http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090712.html) 
> 
> 
> Follow this link to decode the message and read discussion about active  
> SETI
> _http://library.thinkquest.org/C003763/pdf/interview01.pdf_ 
> (http://library.thinkquest.org/C003763/pdf/interview01.pdf) 

[scifinoir2] Fw: MJ Update

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Of great interest.

- Original Message - 
From: Barry Chamish 
To: cham...@netvision.net.il 
Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 10:44 PM
Subject: MJ Update




  LaToya Jackson: Michael Was 'Murdered'


  PopEater
  posted: 2 HOURS 44 MINUTES AGO
  comments: 1570
  filed under: Music News
   Print  Share
  Text SizeAAA
  Skip over this content 

  WireImage
  Speaking out for the first time, the grieving sister of Michael Jackson says 
she thinks "a shadowy entourage" led to the death of her brother, accusing them 
of "murdering" him.
  Speaking with Britain's Daily Mail, LaToya Jackson -- who signed the King of 
Pop's death certificate -- says that Michael was an isolated figure, making him 
easy prey for greedy associates. She accuses these people, whether it be 
doctors, handlers or assistants, of feeding Jackson drugs to control his moods 
in order to get what they want. 
  "I believe Michael was murdered, I felt that from the start. Not just one 
person was involved, rather it was a conspiracy of people. He was surrounded by 
a bad circle. Michael was a very meek, quiet, loving person. People took 
advantage of that. People fought to be close to him, people who werenâ?Tt 
always on his side," LaToya said.
  LaToya then said that she predicted her brother's demise "Less than a month 
ago." 
  Skip over this content 
  "'Heâ?Ts never going to make it to London. He was worth more dead than 
alive," LaToya said she told fellow Jackson family members, 
  "I said I thought Michael was going to die before the London shows because he 
was surrounded by people who didnâ?Tt have his best interests at heart. Michael 
was worth more than a billion dollars. When anyone is worth that much money, 
there are always greedy people around them."
  LaToya continues, saying that in the final months, her brother "was isolated 
from his family. He had no real friends. He was the loneliest man in the world. 
I knew something terrible was going to happen."
  She also takes on the speculation as to what role Jackson's doctor, Conrad 
Murray, played in the King of Pop's final hours. 
  LaToya says Murray "disappeared" from the hospital after she began peppering 
him with questions about her brother's health. She says that Jackson was found 
in Murray's bedroom in the rental house, and that oxygen canisters and IV bags 
lined the walls.
  Skip over this content 
  Jackson says that Murray "mumbled a bunch of nothing" as she grilled him with 
questions. "He said something like, 'Michael didnâ?Tt make it, Iâ?Tm sorry.' It 
wasnâ?Tt right. It felt weird."
  LaToya also goes on to retell just exactly how her life changed when she got 
the frantic phone call about her brother.
  "I was at home when I received the news that Michael had been rushed to the 
hospital. I live about three minutes away from Michael in Beverly Hills," 
LaToya said. 
  "Finally, I heard Mother in the background asking, 'Who is that?' When she 
learned it was me, she screamed, 'Why donâ?Tt you just tell her?' and she 
grabbed the phone and just screamed as loud as she could, "He's dead!'"
  Jackson says she "nearly crashed my car. My legs went weak. I couldnâ?Tt 
press down on the gas pedal. I got to the wrong entrance at the hospital and 
was begging the security guys to help me and take my car because I was so weak 
and faint. They took me up to the area where Michael had been taken. Mother was 
crying and Michaelâ?Ts kids were crying."
  LaToya says she and Jackson's three children then went to view his body. 
  "There was a towel over his face and I lifted it and the kids saw him and 
Paris said, 'Oh Daddy, I love you.' We hugged and kissed him and the children 
lifted up his hands. He didn't look like he was gone. His eyes were half open 
and he looked like he was sleeping. He wasnâ?Tt cold."







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05:56:00

[scifinoir2] Fw: Trouble the Water is coming out on DVD

[Amy Harlib]

Trouble the Water
ahar...@earthlink.net
Excellent doc about Huricane Katrina survivors.

- Original Message - 
From: Carl Deal and Tia Lessin 

Subject: Trouble the Water is coming out on DVD


 
   

  It's here. 

  You can finally own the DVD of Academy Award® nominated Trouble the 
Water. 

  The DVD hits stores on August 25th, but as a member of the Trouble the 
Water network, we wanted to give you a chance to not only order the DVD ahead 
of time, but with a discount. 

  The retail price is $29.99, but for a limited time the DVD will be 
available directly from the distributor at the discounted price of $22.49. 

  Order the DVD today: 

  http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/buythedvd 

  We have been so moved and inspired by the response to Trouble the Water, 
and are thrilled that it will now reach an even wider audience. 

  If you've already seen the film in the cinema, at a community screening, 
or on HBO, now you can own the DVD, watch it and share it in your home, and 
give it as a gift. And if you haven't seen it yet, now's your chance! 

  Order the DVD now from Zeitgeist Films and get a 25% discount: 

  http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/buythedvd 

  With the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching next month, 
it's a good time to see Trouble the Water, share it, and remember. 

  We thank you for helping to make sure that this story is not forgotten. 

  Sincerely, 

  Carl Deal & Tia Lessin 
  directors of Trouble the Water 





 



  This email was sent to: ahar...@earthlink.net

  To unsubscribe, go to: http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/unsubscribe
 
 
 

 






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06:07:00

Re: [RE][scifinoir2] To boldly go to Mars, Buzz Aldrin writes

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Yep - agree about the Moon first thing.
Peace,
Amy

Great story, Brent, and thanks for the send!

And, as much as I would love to see people on Mars in my lifetime, I 
believe that we need to have a strong foothold on the Moon first, to use it as 
a base of operations.





  -[ Received Mail Content ]--
  Subject : [scifinoir2] To boldly go to Mars, Buzz Aldrin writes
  Date : Fri, 17 Jul 2009 17:13:47 -0400
  From : "brent wodehouse" 
  To : scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com

  http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/boldly+Mars/1798832/story.html 

  To boldly go to Mars 

  Forget the moon, the next goal should be to colonize the Red Planet, 
Buzz 
  Aldrin writes 

  By BUZZ ALDRIN, Freelance 

  July 17, 2009 


  On the spring morning in 1927 when Charles Lindbergh set off alone 
across 
  the Atlantic Ocean, only a handful of explorer-adventurers were 
capable of 
  even attempting the feat. Many had tried before Lindbergh's 
successful 
  flight, but all had failed and many lost their lives in the process. 
Most 
  people then thought transatlantic travel was an impossible dream. But 
40 
  years later, 20,000 people a day were safely flying the same route 
that 
  the "Lone Eagle" had voyaged. Transatlantic flight had become 
routine. 

  Forty years ago yesterday, Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins and I began 
our 
  quarter-million-mile journey through the blackness of space to reach 
the 
  moon. 

  Neil and I walked its dusty ancient soil, becoming the first humans 
to 
  stand upon another world. Yet today, no nation - including the U.S. - 
is 
  capable of sending anyone beyond Earth's orbit, much less deeper into 
  space. 

  For the past four years, NASA has been on a path to resume lunar 
  exploration with people, duplicating (in a more complicated fashion) 
what 
  Neil, Mike and our colleagues did four decades ago. But this approach 
- 
  called the Vision for Space Exploration - is not visionary; nor will 
it 
  ultimately be successful in restoring U.S. space leadership. Like its 
  Apollo predecessor, this plan will prove to be a dead end littered 
with 
  broken spacecraft, broken dreams and broken policies. 

  Instead, I propose a new Unified Space Vision, a plan to ensure U.S. 
space 
  leadership for the 21st century. It wouldn't require building new 
rockets 
  from scratch, as current plans do, and it would make maximum use of 
the 
  capabilities we have without breaking the bank. It is a reasonable 
and 
  affordable plan - if we again think in visionary terms. 

  On television and in movies, Star Trek showed what could be achieved 
when 
  we dared to "boldly go where no man has gone before." In real life, 
I've 
  travelled that path, and I know that with the right goal and support 
from 
  most Americans, we can boldly go, again. 

  A race to the moon is a dead end. While the lunar surface can be used 
to 
  develop advanced technologies, it is a poor location for 
homesteading. The 
  moon is a lifeless, barren world, its stark desolation matched by its 
  hostility to all living things. And replaying the glory days of 
Apollo 
  will not advance the cause of U.S. space leadership or inspire the 
support 
  and enthusiasm of the public and the next generation of explorers. 

  Our next generation must think boldly in terms of a goal for the 
space 
  program: Mars for our future. I am not suggesting a few visits to 
plant 
  flags and do photo-ops but a journey to make the first homestead in 
space: 
  an American colony on a new world. 

  Robotic exploration of Mars has yielded tantalizing clues about what 
was 
  once a water-soaked planet. Deep beneath the soils of Mars might lie 
  trapped frozen water, possibly with traces of still-extant primitive 
life 
  forms. Climate change on a vast scale has reshaped Mars. With Earth 
in the 
  throes of its own climate evolution, human outposts on Mars could be 
a 
  virtual laboratory to study these vast planetary changes. And the 
best way 
  to study Mars is with the two hands, eyes and ears of a geologist, 
first 
  on a moon orbiting Mars and then on the Red Planet's surface. 

  Mobilizing the space program to focus on a human colony on Mars while 
at 
  the same time helping our international partners explore the moon on 
their 
  own would galvanize public support for space exploration and provide 
a 
  cause to inspire students. Mars exploration would renew our space 
industry

Re: [scifinoir2] Judi Ann Mason dies at 54; playwright and screenwriter

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
ACK!  Really sad news.  I'm 54 too - how long will I have?
Got to enjoy life as much as possible which is really hard with this goddamn 
economic crisis going on!
Amy


> She helped blaze a trail for black women writers in Hollywood, starting 
> with 'Good Times' in the 1970s. 'Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit' was 
> among her credits.
>
> http://uibehai.notlong.com
>
> From the Los Angeles Times
>
> Judi Ann Mason dies at 54; playwright and screenwriter
>
> By Dennis McLellan
>
> July 16, 2009
>
> Judi Ann Mason, an award-winning playwright and a film and television 
> writer who launched her TV career on the 1970s sitcom "Good Times" and 
> later co-wrote the 1993 movie comedy "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," 
> has died. She was 54.
>
> Mason died July 8 of a ruptured aorta en route to UCLA Medical Center, 
> said Phyllis Larrymore Kelly, her manager.
>
> "She was a trailblazer for the forward progression of African American 
> writers," film and television writer Tina Andrews told The Times on 
> Wednesday. "Most particularly, she became that trailblazer for those 
> African American women writers who came behind her.
>
> "She was certainly front and center as a role model."
>
> A Louisiana native, Mason was a 19-year-old student at Grambling State 
> University when she saw a flier on the theater department bulletin board 
> announcing the American College Theater Festival's 1975 Norman Lear award 
> for best original comedy.
>
> The top prize was $2,500.
>
> "I said, 'Boy, I could sure use that money,' so I wrote 'Livin' Fat,' and 
> it won," Mason told the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1995.
>
> Mason's winning play -- about a poor black family facing the moral dilemma 
> of whether to keep a large sum of money that had unexpectedly come into 
> its possession -- was produced in New York while she was still in school.
>
> A few months after graduating in 1977, Mason was in Hollywood writing 
> scripts for Lear's "Good Times," a show she once described as "comedic 
> filet mignon."
>
> "I never saw Judi Ann Mason without a smile," Lear said in an e-mailed 
> statement released by the Writers Guild of America, West. "She brought it 
> to her writing and her writing brought the rest of us to laughter. She was 
> the ultimate upper."
>
> Mason was born Feb. 2, 1955, in Bossier City, La.
>
> As a playwright, she wrote more than 25 produced plays, including "A Star 
> Ain't Nothin' but a Hole in Heaven," which won the first Lorraine 
> Hansberry Playwriting Award in 1977 for best student-written plays.
>
> Her play "Daughters of the Mock" -- a south Louisiana-set story about a 
> mock curse that a Creole grandmother has passed down from generation to 
> generation to protect the family's women from abusive men -- was first 
> produced by the Negro Ensemble Company in New York City in 1978 and 
> reportedly has been performed at women's colleges across the country.
>
> After writing scripts for "Good Times," Mason went on to write for shows 
> including "Sanford," and "Beverly Hills, 90120" and co-wrote the 1996 
> cable TV movie "Sophie & the Moonhanger."
>
> Among other things, she also was executive story editor for "A Different 
> World," executive story editor for "I'll Fly Away," and development 
> executive and associate head writer for the NBC soap opera "Generations."
>
> "There weren't many black female writers" in Hollywood when Mason started 
> in the 1970s, said Andrews, a former actress. Mason, she said, inspired a 
> number of African American women to become screenwriters.
>
> Andrews, whose credits include writing the award-winning 2000 CBS 
> miniseries "Sally Hemings: An American Scandal," is among them.
>
> She recalled auditioning as an actress for the daytime drama "Generations" 
> in the late '80s and encountering Mason, whom she had first met in the 
> '70s.
>
> "When I saw her sitting behind that desk as somebody in a very powerful 
> position as now a head writer, I saw what I could be," said Andrews. "And 
> when I later called her to congratulate her on this big, wonderful job, 
> she said, 'If you want to write, then write.' She had a very powerful 
> presence. I said, 'You know, I can do that.' And that's what happened."
>
> As a writer, Andrews said, Mason "wrote positive, dignified characters, 
> particularly her black characters. She had strong, realistic dialogue. It 
> sounded like your sister, your aunt, your girlfriend: It was real, and I 
> wanted to write like that. That's why she inspired so many of us."
>
> Mason is survived by her daughter, Mason Synclaire Williams; her son, 
> Austin Barrett Williams; and her siblings, Viola Mason Johnson, Waletta 
> "Cookie" Dunn and Willie Gene Mason.
>
> A memorial service for Mason will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in the Prayer 
> Chapel on the East Campus of the Church on the Way, 14300 Sherman Way, Van 
> Nuys.
>
> dennis.mclel...@latimes.com
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your S

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: ''Dream therapy'' set for a comeback?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff.

- Original Message - 
From: World Science 
To: emailn...@world-science.net 
Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 4:30 AM
Subject: World Science: ''Dream therapy'' set for a comeback?


* "Dream therapy" set for a comeback?:
Similarities in brain activity between a special
dreaming state and some forms of mental derangement
are drawing interest from researchers.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090728_dream


* Reflection is key to jewel beetle colors, scientists 
say:
New studies could lead to applications including car
paints that reflect different colors from different angles.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090725_beetles


* A new way to fix a broken heart?:
Researchers have reportedly devised a method to to
coax mature heart muscle cells into regenerating.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090724_nrg1


* Astronomers: impact gives Jupiter bruise as 
wide as Pacific:
Something apparently slammed into the giant planet
in the last few days, scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090722_jupiter


* Origin of raindrop size "revealed":
The sizes of raindrops result from the breakup of
larger droplets, new high-speed films indicate.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090720_raindrops


* Fossil poop balls reveal secrets of lost 
world:
A study has revealed an intricate network of
long-ago interactions in "mega-dung" from giant 
mammals.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090718_dungbeetle


* Ocean current changes predicted to be 
gradual:
Scientists have released a rare bit of hopeful news
linked to global warming.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090718_currents.htm


* Cats are crafty manipulators, study finds:
Anyone who has had cats knows how hard it can be to
get them to do anything they don't want to do.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090713_cats.htm


* %#$!? Swearing may actually reduce pain:
Unleashing verbal bombs might not show great
self-control, but it sure seems to help people take
pain better, scientists have found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090711_swearing








World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
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To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
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18:07:00

[scifinoir2] Two time physics

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Wow stuff!

 Two time physics


>A link to an article about theories of hypertime, which proposes two 
>dimensions of time instead of one.
>
> http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/large-hadron-collider/330/Are-we-missing-a-dimension-of-time.html
>

>

[scifinoir2] Fwd: Triple Asteroid System Surprises Scientists

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Really cool science stuff.

Fwd: Triple Asteroid System Surprises Scientists


News is the most important resource for any writer. At Kalkion, we try to
create a resource of information which you can use in your stories - and if
you are not a writer, then keep yourself updated with the latest development
in the scientific and entertainment world. Here is your today's dosage of
latest updates from Kalkion. Please write to us at edi...@kalkion.com, if
you have any suggestions to improve upon our services.
   Triple Asteroid System Surprises Scientists


Radar imaging at NASA's Goldstone Solar System Radar on June 12 and 14,
2009, revealed that near-Earth asteroid 1994 CC is a triple system.

   Titan Looks Like Earth, Really?


"It is really surprising how closely Titan's surface resembles Earth's,"
says Rosaly Lopes, a planetary geologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
(JPL) in Pasadena, California, who is presenting the results on Friday, 7
August.

   Can Artists Design Robots?


You've heard about programs that try to teach science and math-oriented
youth to build robots to increase their understanding of science and
engineering.

 Kalkion.com
newslet...@kalkion.com
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Re: [scifinoir2] Looking forward to "District 9"

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
This is so totally on my must-see list!
Cheers!
Amy





  The "District 9" flick has me really intrigued. with its locale of South 
Africa (so different from usual Hollywood story locatons), it's gritty look, 
and the fact that it's a Peter Jackson joint, i have high hopes. Indeed, I'm 
actually looking forward to it more than I have any other movie so far this 
year, including Star Trek.  Anyone heard any early buzz? I did find  favorable 
reviews via jumping from Rotten Tomatoes (something I loathe to do, but as 
local newspapers fire more critics, I'm having to venture further afield to 
even find real critics).

  http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/district_9/

  ***
  http://boxoffice.com/reviews/2009/07/district-9.php


  District 9 is about the apartheid struggle in South Africa. For those under 
the age of 35 or so, apartheid was the system of racial segregation legally 
established by the government of South Africa between 1948 and 1994. No matter 
what else it seems to be about, District 9, a film made a young, white, South 
African director, is about apartheid. Co-writer/director Neill Blomkamp spent 
his formative years living under the system of apartheid and has 
conscientiously insinuated the issue into his film. The attitudes, ideals and 
actions of the characters, from everyday citizens to government officials and 
those in business, reflect those that were common during the apartheid regime. 
The filmmakers, including producer Peter Jackson, have stealthily laid the 
artifacts of these dark days beneath the guise of an Alien invasion movie that 
is intense, graphically novelistic (though it’s an original story) and just 
funny enough to keep you thoroughly entertained, even while the subtext is of a 
very serious nature. Buzz and an also clever marketing scheme suggest this 
should be worth a few bucks at the box office—especially if the audience is 
mostly under 35.

  The film is told using a number of cinematic modes including documentary 
footage, mockumentary footage, newsreel accounts, surveillance cameras and the 
standard story elements of narrative fiction. This is actually less chaotic 
than it sounds and serves to move the narrative along at a brisk pace. There’s 
little need here for filler. The filmmakers can justify any narrative 
exposition by putting a camera on the action (any potential camera) and just 
showing us, or having the characters explain the action to the cameramen. When 
all else fails Blomkamp inserts a movie moment and presses on. Lovely. Mister 
Blomkamp is a fine director who cut his teeth on commercials and music videos, 
and at the knee of director and special effects guru Peter Jackson. Between the 
two of them (Jackson’s company was employed for the effects) they’ve come up 
with the best CGI effects film to date. The spacecrafts, the cityscapes, the 
weapons effects and the aliens themselves (which we are told are 100 percent 
CGI) are all exceptional. But the best thing in the movie is lead actor Sharlto 
Copley, a long time friend of the director and fairly novice actor. Copley is 
pitch perfect, delicately straddling the line between ordinary Afrikaans racist 
and empathic hero. 

  The narrative of District 9 revolves around a giant alien spacecraft that 
came to rest above downtown Johannesburg, South Africa, some 20 years before 
the story began. Inhabited by one million crawfish-like, cat food and raw meat 
eating, humanoid aliens, little can be discerned about where the ship came from 
or who the creatures are. They are simply here. They are strong but without 
direction or purpose, mostly docile and apparently of little use to humanity. 
So we warehouse them—in District 9. Then, we decide to forcibly move them to a 
different, shoddier, interment camp. 
  While other nations are far from guiltless of such cruelties, the emphasis 
here is on the South African history. Still, the structures the film employs 
are incisive and direct and, if you’re over 35, they might piss you off. 

  Distributor: Sony Pictures
  Cast: Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, Nathalie Boltt, Sylvaine Strike, William 
Allen Young and Robert Hobbs
  Director: Neill Blomkamp
  Screenwriters: Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
  Producers: Peter Jackson
  Genre: Science Fiction
  Rating: Rated R for bloody violence and pervasive language.
  Running Time: 113 min.
  Release date: August 14, 2009








  


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Re: [scifinoir2] Peter Jackson takes rookie director under his wing for District 9

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
I AM SO THERE!
Amy

Subject: [scifinoir2] Peter Jackson takes rookie director under his wing for 
District 9


http://gaijeic.notlong.com

chicagotribune.com

Neill Blomkamp's 'District 9' wins over fanboys and Peter Jackson
The science fiction film tells the story of aliens who get stranded in South 
Africa

By Chris Lee

Tribune Newspapers

August 11, 2009

LOS ANGELES
clear pixel

-- In the docu-style, sci-fi thriller "District 9," which arrives in 
theaters Friday, hundreds of thousands of aliens become stranded in South 
Africa after their massive spaceship comes to a standstill above downtown 
Johannesburg.

Unable to fix the craft, this massive population of tentacle-waving, 
exoskeleton-sheathed aliens eventually outstays its welcome; they become 
reviled by humans for burdening the country's welfare system, even though 
all they really want to do is go home. Corralled into District 9 -- a 
rubbish-strewn refugee camp that calls to mind Mumbai's septic squalor, 
captured to striking effect in "Slumdog Millionaire" -- they are segregated 
from the general populace by barbed wire. There, the film's sentient yet 
excitable aliens are denied such basic necessities as running water and are 
denigrated by native earthlings as "prawns" for their resemblance to 
Sasquatch-sized shellfish.

Given the film's real-life setting amid Soweto's teeming townships and its 
segregationist signage -- "For humans only! Non-humans banned!" read 
placards in the movie -- it's impossible not to correlate the aliens' 
predicament with recent South African history. And that's no accident. Call 
"District 9" the world's first autobiographical alien apartheid movie.

Writer-director Neill Blomkamp grew up in Johannesburg during an era of 
white minority rule; later, memories of the apartheid government's social 
divisiveness and authoritarian control became "the most powerful influence" 
in shaping his creative vision.

"It all had a huge impact on me: the white government and the paramilitary 
police -- the oppressive, iron-fisted military environment," Blomkamp said 
over breakfast recently in a Santa Monica hotel. "Blacks, for the most part, 
were kept separate from whites. And where there was overlap, there were very 
clearly delineated hierarchies of where people were allowed to go.

"Those ideas wound up in every pixel in 'District 9.' "

Arriving as one of the hottest properties at San Diego's recent Comic-Con, 
the movie wowed its fanboy premiere audience and set the TweetDeck alight 
with reports that "District 9" is the real deal: one of the most original 
sci-fi films to come along in years.

It should boggle the imagination of anyone who sees the movie to discover, 
then, that for all its narrative assuredness and engrossing neo-realism, 
"District 9" is the debut feature of a director who has not yet reached the 
tender age of 30. Moreover, despite showcasing more than 600 
computer-enhanced shots of bizarro aliens, high-tech weaponry and crazy 
spaceship blastoffs -- much of it shot in cinéma vérité-style that one-ups 
last year's "Cloverfield" -- Blomkamp, 29, managed to shoot "District 9" on 
a modest $30 million budget.

Those merits aside, however, Sony's decision to roll out the film during the 
competitive summer season boils down to three words attached to "District 
9": " Peter Jackson presents." Jackson, the Oscar-winning writer-director 
behind the blockbuster "Lord of the Rings" franchise, was key in actualizing 
Blomkamp's vision for "District 9," producing the film, arranging its 
independent financing and helping Blomkamp iron out kinks in the script.

"He saw South African society -- both the good and bad of the society 
there -- and he wanted to put a science fiction spin on what he witnessed 
growing up because he's a science fiction geek," said Jackson, who had 
traveled from New Zealand to Comic-Con primarily to sing Blomkamp's praises. 
"I really like the idea that here was a guy who was making a movie based on 
life experience, not just on some movie that he was a fan of. 'District 9' 
is not reflective of any movie that I can imagine. It's really very 
original, which I love about it, and that's totally Neill."

But before there was a "District 9," Blomkamp was attached to "Halo," a 
planned $145 million movie adaptation of the popular space age shoot-'em-up 
video game of the same name. In 2005, Jackson signed on to write the script 
for what would have been a joint production between 20th Century Fox and 
Universal, also serving as its producer with the intention of hiring 
"someone young and new" to direct.

Blomkamp pulled up stakes from Vancouver, Canada, to move to New Zealand and 
set to work at Jackson's production facility, Weta Workshop. "He was just 
what we were after," Jackson said, "one of these guys who lives and breathes 
film."

But after months of preproduction on "Halo," the project fell apart. "I 
don't know the specifics -- it was Universal and F

[scifinoir2] First Black Holes Starved at Birth

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Fascinating!


> Hullo all,
>
> This was in science news today.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20090814/sc_space/firstblackholesstarvedatbirth
>
>
>

Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination Against Roma

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  Hooray for Madonna for saying the right thing!
  Amy




  Keith, the truth is never tired-sounding... unfortunately, in this case.

  "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody 
hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik





--
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net
  Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:57:06 +
  Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination 
Against Roma



  You bet. Sad reminder we have so far to go before calling this world 
post-anything.  I hate to feel this way, but I really don't think humanity has 
progressed ten thousand years in terms of social development and compassion. I 
sound like a tired old scifi flick, but our technical, military, and 
self-destructive might continue to outpace our ability to get along.

  Hope Star Trek is wrong, and we don't need another world war to finally get 
past our prejudices...


  - Original Message -
  From: "Tracey de Morsella" 
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 2:37:47 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
  Subject: RE: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination 
Against Roma




  Thanks for the interesting read. I will pass it on



  From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On 
Behalf Of Keith Johnson
  Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 10:06 PM
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Subject: [scifinoir2] OT: Madonna Booed for Condeming Discrimination Against 
Roma








  Sad. I wonder how many Americans know anything about the Roma, outside of 
what they've seen in movies?

  ***
  
http://omg.yahoo.com/news/madonna-booed-in-bucharest-for-defending-gypsies/26947?nc

  BUCHAREST, Romania - At first, fans politely applauded the Roma performers 
sharing a stage with Madonna. Then the pop star condemned widespread 
discrimination against Roma, or Gypsies — and the cheers gave way to jeers.
  The sharp mood change that swept the crowd of 60,000, who had packed a park 
for Wednesday night's concert, underscores how prejudice against Gypsies 
remains deeply entrenched across Eastern Europe.
  Despite long-standing efforts to stamp out rampant bias, human rights 
advocates say Roma probably suffer more humiliation and endure more 
discrimination than any other people group on the continent.
  Sometimes, it can be deadly: In neighboring Hungary, six Roma have been 
killed and several wounded in a recent series of apparently racially motivated 
attacks targeting small countryside villages predominantly settled by Gypsies.
  "There is generally widespread resentment against Gypsies in Eastern Europe. 
They have historically been the underdog," Radu Motoc, an official with the 
Soros Foundation Romania, said Thursday.
  Roma, or Gypsies, are a nomadic ethnic group believed to have their roots in 
the Indian subcontinent. They live mostly in southern and eastern Europe, but 
hundreds of thousands have migrated west over the past few decades in search of 
jobs and better living conditions.
  Romania has the largest number of Roma in the region. Some say the population 
could be as high as 2 million, although official data put it at 500,000.
  Until the 19th century, Romanian Gypsies were slaves, and they've gotten a 
mixed response ever since: While discrimination is widespread, many East 
Europeans are enthusiastic about Gypsy music and dance, which they embrace as 
part of the region's cultural heritage.
  That explains why the Roma musicians and a dancer who had briefly joined 
Madonna onstage got enthusiastic applause. And it also may explain why some in 
the crowd turned on Madonna when she paused during the two-hour show — a stop 
on her worldwide "Sticky and Sweet" tour — to touch on their plight.
  "It has been brought to my attention ... that there is a lot of 
discrimination against Romanies and Gypsies in general in Eastern Europe," she 
said. "It made me feel very sad."
  Thousands booed and jeered her.
  A few cheered when she added: "We don't believe in discrimination ... we 
believe in freedom and equal rights for everyone." But she got more boos when 
she mentioned discrimination against homosexuals and others.
  "I jeered her because it seemed false what she was telling us. What business 
does she have telling us these things?" said Ionut Dinu, 23.
  Madonna did not react and carried on with her concert, held near the hulking 
palace of the late communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
  Her publicist, Liz Rosenberg, said Madonna and other had told her there were 
cheers as well as jeers.
  "Madonna has been touring with a phenomenal troupe of Roma musicians who made 
her aware of the discrimination toward them in several countries so she felt 
compelled to make a brief stateme

Re: [scifinoir2] topic: silly movie ideas

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
ROTFL!
Amy




The Little Xmen Mermaids Meet The Shaggy Professor Who Played 
Basketball and Switched Bodies With Triton on Witch Mountain!!

It will also make an excellent video game.

--- On Thu, 9/3/09, Mr. Worf  wrote:


  From: Mr. Worf 
  Subject: [scifinoir2] topic: silly movie ideas
  To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  Date: Thursday, September 3, 2009, 7:18 PM



  Now that Disney has bought Marvel what horrible combinations do you 
think that we will see?

  Here are a couple off the top of my head:

  Wolverine and Shrek adventures

  Mickey Mouse / Xmen races



   




  


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05:50:00

[scifinoir2] Big Artistic Performance to Be Set in Space

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Big Artistic Performance to Be Set in Space


> This sounds like fun.
> 
> Mark your calendars, gang - Stardate Oct. 9
> 
> 
> 
> Big Artistic Performance to Be Set in Space  
> (http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/090902-space-tourist-canada.html)
> 
> By Clara Moskowitz, Staff Writer
> posted: 02 September 2009
> 
> The first ever widely acknowledged artistic performance from space will 
> be broadcast from the International Space Station on Oct. 9.
> 
> Orchestrated by Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte, who is set to 
> launch to the station as a space tourist Sept. 30, the event will 
> feature artists performing from 14 cities around the world, as well as 
> Laliberte broadcasting from space.
> 
> Laliberte described the event, called "Moving Stars and Earth for 
> Water," as a "poetic social mission" to communicate the importance 
> water has for the planet and its people.
> 
> Scientists have warned that water shortages rank with energy and food 
> issues around the globe as top governmental issues now and in the 
> future.
> 
> Global million-dollar effort
> 
> The Canadian acrobat is due to fly along with two professional 
> astronauts aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from Baikonur Cosmodrome 
> in Kazakhstan. Laliberte booked his trip with the Russian Federal Space 
> Agency through the U.S. firm Space Adventures, which usually charges 
> about $30 million for the excursions. Laliberte is set to stay aboard 
> the International Space Station for about 12 days.
> 
> In addition to founding Cirque du Soleil, Laliberte started the ONE 
> DROP Foundation, which aims to fight poverty in the world by working to 
> provide clean water to everyone.
> 
> "This artistic mission will permit me to raise awareness for [the] 
> water issue," Laliberte said Wednesday in a press conference. "I 
> believe through art and emotion we can convey a universal message."
> 
> The artistic event is planned to be broadcast simultaneously on Oct. 9 
> at 8:00 p.m. ET ( GMT) on huge screens in 14 cities, as well as 
> online at Onedrop.org and Aol.com. A cadre of personalities, including 
> former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, Peter Gabriel, Shakira, and U2, are 
> set to perform from Montreal, Moscow, Johannesburg, Mumbai, Marrakesh, 
> Sydney, Tokyo, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, and London, as well 
> as the U.S. cities New York, Santa Monica, and Tampa.
> 
> Laliberte has been working with various artists on a poetic fairy tale 
> that will tell about the importance of water through the perspective of 
> four characters: a star, the moon, the sun and a drop of water.
> 
> During the event, artists in each city will read part of the tale, as 
> well as perform in other ways. Laliberte will also read from space 
> coordinate the worldwide events.
> 
> "People should see that as a moment where the voices of the world are 
> unifying in a specific moment and participating at an event together to 
> talk about water," he said. "This is a moment of great friendship, of 
> great artistic rendering, I believe, and hopefully this artistic 
> project will touch people."
> 
> Though Laliberte is spending millions of dollars on this project, he 
> said he thinks it's worth it.
> 
> "The space community is excited about this project," he said. "We're 
> building up a global event. I don't know what will be the end result, 
> but so far, so good, and we're very, very happy."
> 
> Training for months
> 
> Laliberte has been training for moths alongside professional 
> spaceflyers in Russia's Star City for his mission. Soon he and his 
> crewmates, Russian Cosmonaut Maksim Surayev and NASA astronaut Jeffrey 
> Williams, will fly to Baikonur and enter quarantine in advance of their 
> launch. Surayev and Williams are due to take up long-term residence on 
> the space station as Expedition 21 crewmembers.
> 
> "I'm starting to get some butterflies inside me flying around," 
> Laliberte said. "I'm starting to get the little buzz of going up 
> there."
> 
> Laliberte, 50, is married and has five children. He said traveling to 
> space has been a dream of his since he was a young boy watching men 
> land on the moon for the first time.
> 
> "This whole thing is so much a privilege," Laliberte said."This is a 
> fairly tale for me."
> 
> Laliberte is due to become the seventh private explorer to journey to 
> space. The last space tourist to fly was Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian 
> software executive who made his second trip to the space station in 
> March, also brokered through Space Adventures.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>

Re: [scifinoir2] FW: Obama's Mistakes in Health Care Reform

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Totally.  I made the right choice to vote for Cynthia McKinney.
Outraged Amy

  From: kalpub...@aol.com [mailto:kalpub...@aol.com] 
  Sent: Monday, September 07, 2009 3:26 PM
  To: jeffreypbal...@gmail.com; tdemorse...@multiculturaladvantage.com
  Cc: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; dar...@darylelockhart.com; 
afrikanm...@hotmail.com; cbilmarket...@yahoo.com; 
  Subject: Obama's Mistakes in Health Care Reform 

   

  COUNTERPUNCH.COM


  http://www.counterpunch.com 

   

  Labor Day Edition
  September 7, 2009

  Why Obama Needed Single Payer on the Table 
  Obama's Mistakes in Health Care Reform 
  By VICENTE NAVARRO 

  Let me start by saying that I have never been a fan of Barack Obama. Early 
on, I warned many on the left that his slogan, “Yes, we can,” could not be read 
as a commitment to the major change this country needs (see “Yes, We Can. Can 
We? The Next Failure of Health Reform”). Still, I actively supported him 
against John McCain and was very pleased when he became president – for many 
reasons, encompassing a broad range of feelings. O ne reason was that Obama is 
African-American, and the country needed to have a black president. Another was 
that his election seemed to signal the end of the Bush era. But, the most 
important reason was that I saw him as a decent man, surrounded by some good 
people who could promote change from the center and open up some possibilities 
for progress, giving the left a chance to influence the administration’s 
policies. Well, after just over seven months of the Obama White House, I have 
no reason to doubt that he is a decent man, but I am dismayed by the bad 
judgment he has shown in the choice of some of his staff and advisors. I really 
doubt that he is going to be able to make the changes we need. As I said, I 
never had great expectations about him and his policies, but even the lowest of 
my expectations have not been met. 

  Some among the many skeptics on the left might add, “What did you expect?” 
Well, at least I expected Obama to show the same degree of astuteness that he 
and his team had shown during the campaign. He seemed to be a brilliant 
strategist, and his election proves this. But my greatest disappointment is the 
strategies he is now following in his proposals for health care reform – they 
could not be worse. I am really concerned that the fiasco of this reform may 
make Obama a one-term president.

  Error number One 

  One of the two major objectives for health care reform, as emphasized by 
Obama, is the need to reduce medical care costs. The notion that “the economy 
cannot afford a medical care system so costly, with the annual increases of 
medical care running wild” has been repeated over and over – only the tone 
varies, depending on the audience. An element of this argument is Obama’s 
emphasis on eliminating the federal deficit. He stresses that most of the 
government deficit is due to the outrageous growth in costs in federal health 
programs. Thus, a crucial part of the message he is transmitting is the health 
care reform objective of reducing costs. 

  This message, as it reaches the average citizen, seems like a threat to 
achieve cost reductions by cutting existing benefits. This perception is 
particularly accentuated among elderly people – which is not unreasonable, 
given that the president indicates that the funds needed to provide health 
benefits coverage to the 48 million currently uncovered will come partially 
from existing programs, such as Medicare, with savings supposedly achieved by 
increasing efficiency. To the average citizen (who has developed an enormous 
skepticism about the political process), this call for savings by increasing 
efficiency sounds like a code for cutting benefits. Not surprisingly , then, 
one sector of the population most skeptical about health care reform is seniors 
– the beneficiaries of Medicare. The comment that “government should keep its 
hands off my Medicare,” as heard at some of the town hall meetings, is not as 
paradoxical or ridiculous as the liberal media paint it. It makes a lot of 
sense. An increasing number of elderly people feel that the uninsured are going 
to be insured at the expense of seniors’ benefits. 

  Error Number Two 

  The second major objective of health care reform as presented by Obama is to 
provide health benefits coverage for the uncovered: the 48 million people who 
don’t have any form of health benefits coverage. This is an important and 
urgently needed intervention. The U.S. cannot claim to be a civilized nation 
and a defender of human rights around the world unless this major human and 
moral problem at home is resolved once and for all. But, however important, 
this is not the largest problem we have in the health care sector. The most 
widespread problem is not being uninsured but underinsured: the majority of 
people in the U.S. – 168 million, to be precise – are underinsured. And many 
(32 per cent) are not

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Tiny 'T. rex' found

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Interesting science stuff.

Subject: World Science: Tiny 'T. rex' found


* Tiny "T. rex" found:
An ancestor of the giant predator resembles a
miniature replica of it, at 1/90 the weight,
scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090918_raptorex


* Showerheads may spray germs at you:
Your morning scrubdown may give you more than you
bargained for.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090914_shower


 * Negative public opinion seen as warning 
signal for terrorism:
Terrorism is more likely when one country's people
dislike the leaders and policies of another, a study
has found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090917_terrorism


* Brain activity found to predict schizophrenia:
A small area in our heads is linked to the earliest
stages of a serious mental illness, researchers
say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090911_schizophrenia


* Fungus-treated violin beats Strad in blind test:
A newly developed type of violin won in a blind
contest against one made by the most famed violin
maker of history.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090915_violin


* Graffiti "shield" could offer hope for paint-
threatened landmarks:
Graffiti mars many historic monuments, and can be
hard to erase without damaging the underlying
surface. But help may be coming.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090910_graffiti


* Memories may persist even when forgotten:
Scientists have found that a person's brain activity
while remembering an event is similar to when it was
first experienced, even if specifics can't be recalled.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090909_memories






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06:18:00

[scifinoir2] Fw: Fantasy author David Eddings dies

[Amy Harlib]

SFcrowsnest Monthly Science Fiction and Fantasy Magazine
ahar...@earthlink.net
Forwarding.


   "I'm enough of a pessimist that I'm going to continue writing fantasy."
David Eddings - author, friend.

   Issue 187.5 - June 2009
19 years online (& counting)
   


   

  NEWS EXTRA June 2009 

  I don't normally do one-shot news updates because of the eye-wateringly 
large cost of e-mailing the whole SFcrowsnest subscriber base, but I'll make an 
exception for David. 

  One of the great ones has gone and his death leaves the fantasy field 
many worlds poorer.

  Stephen Hunt
  June 3rd 2009

  David Eddings passes away
  Fantasy author David Eddings has sadly passed away, aged 77, last night. 
Best-selling and popular are often epithets that are applied to authors on 
writers' press releases, but in David's case, it was well deserved. His 
commercial success, says fantasy author Stephen Hunt, paved the way for a whole 
generation of doorstopper-sized fantasy series.


--

  Stephen Hunt's third fantasy novel set in the Jackelian world... 

  The Rise of The Iron Moon

  From the author of The Court of the Air and The Kingdom Beyond the Waves 
comes a thrilling new adventure set in the same Victorian-style world. 

  Born into captivity as a product of the Royal Breeding House, friendless 
orphan Purity Drake suddenly finds herself on the run with a foreign vagrant 
from the North after accidentally killing one of her guards. Her strange 
rescuer claims he is on the run himself from terrible forces who mean to 
enslave the Kingdom of Jackals as they conquered his own nation. 

  Purity doubts his story, until reports begin to filter through from 
Jackals' neighbours of the terrible Army of Shadows, marching across the 
continent and sweeping all before them. But there's more to Purity than meets 
the eye. 

  As Jackals girds itself for war against an army of near-unkillable beasts 
serving an ancient evil with a terrible secret, it soon becomes clear that 
their only hope is a strange little royalist girl and the last, desperate plan 
of an escaped slave.

  Available now on Amazon - click here.


--
Stephen Hunt's 
The Kingdom Beyond the Waves - NOW out in paperback (UK)
A deadly obsession, a lunatic steamman, a u-boat full of convict 
sailors. You're sailing to your death ...
   
Professor Amelia Harsh is obsessed with finding the lost 
civilisation of Camlantis, a legendary city from pre-history that is said to 
have conquered hunger, war and disease -- tempering the race of man's baser 
instincts by the creation of the perfect pacifist society. 

It is an obsession that is to cost her dearly. She returns home to 
the Kingdom of Jackals from her latest archaeological misadventure to discover 
that the university council has finally stripped her of her position in 
retaliation for her heretical research. Without official funding, Amelia has no 
choice but to accept the offer of patronage from the man she blames for her 
father's bankruptcy and suicide, the fiercely intelligent and incredibly 
wealthy Abraham Quest. 

He has an ancient crystal-book that suggests the Camlantean ruins 
are buried under one of the sea-like lakes that dot the murderous jungles of 
Liongeli. Amelia undertakes an expedition deep into the dark heart of the 
jungle, blackmailing her old friend Commodore Black into ferrying her along the 
huge river of the Shedarkshe on his ancient u-boat.

With an untrustworthy crew of freed convicts, Quest's force of 
female mercenaries on board and a lunatic steamman safari hunter acting as 
their guide, Amelia's luck can hardly get any worse. But she's as yet unaware 
that her quest for the perfect society is about to bring her own world to the 
brink of destruction!

Hardback


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingdom-Beyond-Waves-Stephen-Hunt/dp/0007232209

Paperback


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingdom-Beyond-Waves-Stephen-Hunt/dp/0007232217

   

   

  Science fiction and fantasy events upcoming shortly:

  ApolloCon 
  2009 26/06/2009 - 28/06/2009 
  United States - Houston Science Fiction Con

  Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins 
  05/06/2009 - 05/07/2009 
  United States - Various Cinema release

  Finncon 2009 
  10/07/2009 - 12/07/2009
  Finland - Helsinki Science Fiction Con

  Ancient City Con III 
  18/07/2009 - 19/07/2009 
  United States - Jacksonville Science Fiction Con

  Find the full list of cons and events over here.


--
Stephen Hunt's 

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Gang membership and 'warrior genes'

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net

Interesting science stuff.

* Do sex cells hold the secret to long life?:
The secret of longevity may lurk within the genetic
activity of sperm and eggs, new research suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090607_germline


* Ocean acidification to trigger job losses, 
scientists warn:
Ocean acidification, a consequence of human
activity, is set to change marine ecosystems
forever, scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090601-acidification


* "Warrior gene" found rife among young 
thugs:
Boys with a particular variant of a gene are more
likely to join gangs -- and to be among their most
violent members, researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090605-maoa


* Sandcastle secrets could help revive ancient
building technique:
The secret of a successful sandcastle could aid the
revival of an ancient, eco-friendly building method,
according to some engineers.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090604-sandcastle


* When evolution isn't so slow and gradual:
Guppies introduced into new habitats developed new
and advantageous traits in just a few years, a study
has found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090602-evolution






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
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cancel the old one.
Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
another website, on condition that it is reproduced 
along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of 
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05:53:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Happy Holidays scifinoir2

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Have a Happy to you and everybody too!
Peace,
Amy

  No matter your belief system. Hopefully you can get shoreleave to the 
pleasure planet of Risa, if not I hope you can spend quality with family and 
/or friends.Do more than put $$ into James Cameron or Disney's pockets. Pick up 
the communicater and reconnect with that sibling or cousin who gets amnesia 
when it comes to that $100 he borrowed back in 85. Its just not that deep.


  Happy Holidays



   

   




  


--



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03:11:00

[scifinoir2] Obama as hollow as Tiger Woods?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Well said.  I never drank the koolaid and voted for Cynthia McKinney who spoke 
the truth.  We ended up with President 'Obusha' who has turned out far worse 
than I imagined.  

Not feeling very merry right now,
Amy


  Lets be honest, most people will say that you should not put faith in people. 
Or paint a perfect imagine of a person. If you do then when they do something 
wrong, one thing wrong you will become greatly disappointed. 
  --Lavender

  If all truths were knowable, then all truths are in fact known.



  Subject: [scifinoir2] Obama as hollow as Tiger Woods?




  Frank Rich Goes There: Obama as hollow as Tiger Woods? 
  by route66 
  Sat Dec 19, 2009 at 07:39:51 PM PST
  Frank Rich takes a look back at the decade in his Sunday NYT column, and what 
he sees ain't pretty at all.

  Though the American left and right don't agree on much, they are both now 
coalescing around the suspicion that Obama's brilliant presidential campaign 
was as hollow as Tiger's public image - a marketing scam designed to camouflage 
either his covert anti-American radicalism (as the right sees it) or spineless 
timidity (as the left sees it). The truth may well be neither, but after a 
decade of being spun silly, Americans can't be blamed for being cynical about 
any leader trying to sell anything. As we say goodbye to the year of Tiger 
Woods, it is the country, sad to say, that is left mired in a sand trap with no 
obvious way out. 

a.. route66's diary :: :: 
b.. 
  Rich details the "bamboozling" of the American Public throughout the decade, 
from Enron to Bush, Citgroup to John Edwards, Barry Bonds to Balloon Boy.  He 
reserves his  most pointed criticism for Tiger Woods, in a scathing indictment 
that makes Woods the poster boy for all that is wrong in America

  People wanted to believe what they wanted to believe. Tiger's off-the-links 
elusiveness was no more questioned than Enron's impenetrable balance sheets, 
with their "special-purpose entities" named after "Star Wars" characters. 
Fortune magazine named Enron as America's "most innovative company" six years 
in a row. In the January issue of Golf Digest, still on the stands, some of the 
best and most hardheaded writers in America offer "tips Obama can take from 
Tiger," who is typically characterized as so without human frailties that he 
"never does anything that would make him look ridiculous." 

  There is truth in Rich's rant, regarding Iraq, "we wanted to suspend 
disbelief. Much of the country, regardless of party, didn't want to question 
its leaders, no matter how obviously they were hyping any misleading shred of 
intelligence that could fit their predetermined march to war."

  Rich takes issue with Time Magazine's choice of Ben Bernanke as Person of the 
Year and has instead named Tiger Woods

  As cons go, Woods's fraudulent image as an immaculate exemplar of superhuman 
steeliness is benign. His fall will damage his family, closest friends, 
Accenture and the golf industry much more than the rest of us. But the syndrome 
it epitomizes is not harmless. We keep being fooled by leaders in all sectors 
of American life, over and over. A decade that began with the "reality" 
television craze exemplified by "American Idol" and "Survivor" - both 
blissfully devoid of any reality whatsoever - spiraled into a wholesale flight 
from truth. 

  If truth will set us free, the lack of truth rampant in this country, well 
described in this column, will surely shatter whatever future we have.  The 
failed climate agreement and finger pointing, the sad, almost comical actions 
of the United States Senate in the current Health Care reform effort, the 
placing of Wall Street foxes in the henhouse of the United States Government 
Treasury, the hourly and daily politics of dancing around the truth speak 
volumes.  There is no more common good nor common sense and we are all wasting 
time, wasting money and wasting lives.

  Kudos to Frank Rich.  Many will disagree vehemently with his characterization 
and questions regarding our President.  I hope our President will read the 
column and think long and hard about the State of our Union.

  'tis not a pretty sight.

  update my take and headline re. Rich's column do focus on the current 
state of affairs that Barack Obama finds himself in; Rich concludes his column 
with the graf I quoted first.  I don't think Frank Rich intended to directly 
compare the antics of Woods with the efforts of the President and the situation 
each finds themselves in currently.  The obvious snowballing of America by many 
parties, before Tiger, is paramount in the article.  Many comments below have 
automatically focused narrowly on the fact that both are black and accuse Rich 
of racist undertones.  Read the article and reach your own conclusions.  I'm 
going to bed.






  

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Scientists create 'memories' in isolated brain slices

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Interesting science stuff.

Subject: World Science: Scientists create 'memories' in isolated brain slices


* Scientists create "memories" in isolated brain 
slices:
Researchers say the effect occurred thanks to an
obscure type of cell first described in 1893.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091227_memory


* Power promotes hypocrisy, study finds
Behind 2009's scandal-ridden headlines lies a deeper
psychological pattern, researchers claim.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091229_hypocrisy


* Collisions and "vampirism" may make stars look 
newly young:
Two processes can make some stars look much younger
than they really are, astronomers have found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091226_stragglers


* Females may harbor biological "inner male":
In female mice, switching off one gene seems to
start turning the ovaries into testicles that
produce male hormones, scientists report.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091222_foxl2


* First "super-Earths" found orbiting sun-like 
stars:
Astronomers have reported finding as many as six
planets, not many times heavier than Earth, orbiting
two nearby Sun-like stars.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091215_planets


* Personalities judged by appearance alone 
in study:
They say never to judge a book by its cover. But
some aspects of a stranger's personality may be
discernible from a photo.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091211_appearance


MORE NEWS

* Moon like that in "Avatar" could be real:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091220_avatar
* For some stone-agers, home was where the 
hearth was:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091217_homes
* Violent conflicts fit into patterns, researchers 
find:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091216_conflict
* Second "Mozart Effect"? Premature babies may 
grow faster:
http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/091214_mozart





World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and 
cancel the old one.
Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
another website, on condition that it is reproduced 
along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
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02:47:00

Re: [scifinoir2] A Real Master of the Game

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
I'm from NYC and HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED!


Subject: [scifinoir2] A Real Master of the Game


> http://blackplush.blogspot.com/2009/12/real-masters-of-game.html
>
> Percy Sutton passed away on Saturday.
>
> As is my wont to do, I have also immortalized him on my World Ebon blog:
> http://theworldebon.blogspot.com/2009/12/mosiday-oshana-23-10009.html
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your SciFiNoir Profile at
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo!
>  
> Groups Links
>
>
>






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02:47:00

[scifinoir2] NEW IMARO NOVEL: #4 IS OUT NOW!

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Dear Charles,

YAY!  JOY!  I have already placed my order with Lulu.  The cover is splendid - 
just gorgeous.  Imaro seems quite evenly matched in that scene and the 
lightning bolts add a nice supernatural touch, suggests lots of fantastic 
thrills within.  The Cimmerian website is already publicizing this exciting 
event and I am spreading the word with this message.

Lots of happy fans will appreciate this New Year gift!

Thanks and Cheers!

Amy
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/imaro-the-naama-war/6196467


Hello, Amy ... 


 Thanks for the kind comments about my Kush article.  Meanwhile, this 
year is ending with a bang, and I don't mean New Year's Eve fireworks.  The 
fourth Imaro novel, Imaro:The Naama War, is now available at lulu.com.  To see 
what the cover art looks like without text, go to:


 http://mshindo9.deviantart.com/art/Imaro-cover-art-148520864


 I'm sure you can imagine how I'm feeling now that this book is in 
print nearly 25 years after I first wrote it.  Now, at last, you will get the 
answers to the questions the first three books engendered.  Here's hoping those 
answers are worth the wait.


 Keeping on,


 Charles 


--
  Looking for the perfect gift? Give the gift of Flickr! 


--



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02:27:00

Re: [scifinoir2] A couple of overlooked movies

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
9 was terrific!

Ink sounds good.
Cheers!
Amy


  9 - 
  I don't remember seeing 9 on anyone's list this year, so I thought I would 
give it some props. I just spent the evening watching this film and thought 
that it was an interesting rewrite of an old theme with beautiful artwork, and 
interesting characters. 9 was born into a post apocalyptic world where the 
machines had taken over and killed off most of mankind. Basically finishing the 
job that Skynet could not. 9 is a good multi-genre film mixing post apocalyptic 
scifi, with a family Disneyesque theme.

  More info here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0472033/

   
  Ink - 
  This was a low budget indie film ($250,000) that was made outside of the 
Hollywood system. Ink is about what happens in the dreamworld. When we are 
asleep two opposing forces emerge to fight over what we will dream. The light 
gives us good dreams, and the incubus that gives us nightmares. The two sides 
go to war after a little girl is kidnapped in the dream world by Ink (a wannabe 
incubus). This movie is a mix of mystical, and the matrix (there are some good 
martial arts scenes). I could see this movie made into a series on BBC. It is 
available on DVD and bootleg. (The company said that they are comfortable with 
the downloading.) 

  More info here; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1071804/

  Hardwired - 
  Hardwired stars Cuba Goodin Jr. as the lead role, Val Kilmer, and a few other 
faces that you may recognize in a "near future" film where the bank bailouts 
have failed and the entire world is owned by corporations such as Mc Donalds, 
and Microsoft. (Mc Donalds owns the Hoover Dam, and Pepsi owns the moon.) Cuba 
plays a man that finds himself with amnesia after a car crash. To save his 
life, his sister gives permission for Cuba to have an experimental operation 
that places a chip inside his brain. 

  I wanted to like this film, but there was a lot of tacky elements to it. One 
is Val Kilmer's hair. The other is unexplained inconsistencies with Cuba's 
fighting skills. I guess with a little tweaking this could be a good superhero 
origin story.

  Overall it reminded me of a made for the Syfy channel movie with a higher 
budget. The story gave me the feeling that it should have been written in the 
1980s. (Like parallel to Robocop.) The special effects looked a bit dated as 
well although this movie was made this year. Oh how the mighty have fallen... 

  Check out 9 and Ink!



  


--



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  Checked by AVG - www.avg.com 
  Version: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.123/2595 - Release Date: 12/31/09 
03:52:00

[scifinoir2] The Creator of Gumby is dead, dammit

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
The Creator of Gumby is dead, dammit


> http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/08/art-clokey-creator-o.html
> 
>We have lost a rare creative talent!
*sigh*
Amy

 

Re: [scifinoir2] FW: Uganda's Child Sacrifice

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
The tragedy is compounded because this is driven by forces of globalization and 
the corruption of the colonial legacy.
ARRGH!
Amy




  From the subject line alone, I didn't think I'd be strong enough to watch it. 
Reading the text accompanying, I KNOW that I'm not. Right now, I'm mad because 
we're f*cking around in Afghanistan, looking for a dead man and his henchmen 
(who, BTB, aren't even there). 

  "If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in bloody 
hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik





--
  To: cdemorse...@yahoo.com; scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
  From: tdli...@multiculturaladvantage.com
  Date: Sat, 9 Jan 2010 12:24:49 -0800
  Subject: [scifinoir2] FW: Uganda's Child Sacrifice




  From: kalpub...@aol.com [mailto:kalpub...@aol.com] 





  Please watch video



  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8441813.stm 





  BBC NEWS

  Witch-doctors reveal extent of child sacrifice in Uganda 
  7 January 10 09:45 GMT



  By Tim Whewell
  BBC News, Uganda

  A BBC investigation into human sacrifice in Uganda has heard first-hand 
accounts which suggest ritual killings of children may be more common than 
authorities have acknowledged.

  One witch-doctor led us to his secret shrine and said he had clients who 
regularly captured children and brought their blood and body parts to be 
consumed by spirits. 

  Meanwhile, a former witch-doctor who now campaigns to end child sacrifice 
confessed for the first time to having murdered about 70 people, including his 
own son. 

  The Ugandan government told us that human sacrifice is on the increase, and 
according to the head of the country's Anti-Human Sacrifice Taskforce the crime 
is directly linked to rising levels of development and prosperity, and an 
increasing belief that witchcraft can help people get rich quickly. 

  In the course of our investigation we witnessed the ritual torching of the 
shrine of a particularly active witch-doctor in northern Uganda by 
anti-sacrifice campaigners. 

  The witch-doctor allowed ceremonial items including conch shells and animal 
skins to be burned in his sacred grove after agreeing to give up sacrifice. 

  He told us that clients had come to him in search of wealth. 

  "They capture other people's children. They bring the heart and the blood 
directly here to take to the spirits… They bring them in small tins and they 
place these objects under the tree from which the voices of the spirits are 
coming," he said. 

  Asked how often clients brought blood and body parts, the witch-doctor said 
they came "on average three times a week - with all that the spirits demand 
from them." 

  We saw a beaker of blood and what appeared to be a large, raw liver in the 
shrine before it was destroyed, although it was not possible to determine 
whether they were human remains. 

  Extortion

  The witch-doctor denied any direct involvement in murder or incitement to 
murder, saying his spirits spoke directly to his clients. 

  He told us he was paid 500,000 Ugandan shillings (£160 or $260) for a 
consultation, but that most of that money was handed over to his "boss" in a 
nationwide network of witch-doctors.

  Head of the Anti-Human Sacrifice and Trafficking Task Force, assistant 
commissioner Moses Binoga of the Ugandan police, said he knew of the boss 
referred to - involved in one of five or six witch-doctor protection rackets 
operating in the country. 

  "The senior ones extort money from lower people because they deal in illegal 
things," he told us. 

  Mr Binoga said police had opened 26 murder cases in 2009, in which the victim 
appeared to have been ritually sacrificed, compared with just three cases in 
2007. 

  "We also have about 120 children and adults reported missing whose fate we 
have not traced. We cannot rule out that they may be victims of human 
sacrifice," he said. 

  But child protection campaigners believe the real number is much higher, as 
some disappearances are not reported to police. 

  Activism

  Former witch-doctor turned anti-sacrifice campaigner Polino Angela says he 
has persuaded 2,400 other witch-doctors to give up the trade since he himself 
repented in 1990.

  Mr Angela told us he had first been initiated as a witch-doctor at a ceremony 
in neighbouring Kenya, where a boy of about 13 was sacrificed. 

  "The child was cut with a knife on the neck and the entire length from the 
neck down was ripped open, and then the open part was put on me," he said. 

  When he returned to Uganda he says he was told by those who had initiated him 
to kill his own son, aged 10. 

  "I deceived my wife and made sure that everyone else had gone away and I was 
with my child alone. Once he was placed down on the ground, I used a big knife 
and brought it down like a guillotine." 

  Asked if he was afr

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Mysterious dust in a distant solar system

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff.

- Original Message - 
From: World Science 
To: emailn...@world-science.net 
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 8:20 PM
Subject: World Science: Mysterious dust in a distant solar system


* For healthy mental aging, brain games may 
fill in for schooling:
People with less education can avoid the increased
risk of memory loss, a study suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100112_brain


* Distant solar system forming from mysterious 
dust, scientists say:
A far-off solar system seems to be forming from a
strange dust whose makeup is unlike that of our and
other solar systems.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100111_dust


* Baby temperament found to predict adult brain 
structure:
Four-month-old infants' temperament predicts some
aspects of their brain structure at age 18, 
researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100109_brain


* "Punisher" of the seas is a little finned janitor:
For small fish known as cleaner wrasse, stepping
into the line of fire reaps huge rewards, according
to a new study.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100107_punisher


* "Golden ratio" hints at hidden atomic 
symmetry:
A hitherto undiscovered order can be found in solid
matter at very small scales, physicists are reporting.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100107_goldenratio


* Hubble reveals "uncharted" cosmic zone:
The space telescope has uncovered a primordial
population of small, ultra-blue galaxies, according
to astronomers.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100105_galaxies


* "Lifeless" molecules found to evolve, adapt:
Prions -- infectious molecules that cause fatal
brain diseases -- can evolve in a Darwinian fashion,
biologists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100101_prions


* Mosquito lovers "sing" in harmony:
The insects responsible for the most malaria deaths
find mates by using their wingbeats to produce tones
that agree, a study reports.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091231_mosquito


* Power promotes hypocrisy: study:
Behind 2009's scandal-ridden headlines lies a deeper
psychological pattern, researchers claim.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/091229_hypocrisy






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and 
cancel the old one.
Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
another website, on condition that it is reproduced 
along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of 
the original article is optional.








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02:35:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Why Is Haiti so Poor -Do you know why?

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Democracy now rules!  I watch that brilliant program every weekday and wouldn't 
function without it!  Best independent non-corporate journalism out there!

It will cure you of propaganda brainwashing!
Amy - proud to share a name with that show's stellar host Amy Goodman!


  Hi Members,
  If ever you wanted to know why Haiti is impoverish and dirt poor, check 
out this
  Democracy Now video. It is all 100 percent truth!
  I do hope all will take the time to watch it and let me know what you 
think
  about it please!

  
   

  The wicked ENDTIME - NOT the RIGHTEOUS. 
  http://Zetaheaven.org  

 




  


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02:35:00

Re: [scifinoir2] RE: George Washington became a abolitionist (in closet)

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net

  Subject: [scifinoir2] RE: George Washington became a abolitionist (in closet)


  I second these emotions!
  Peace,
  Amy


  Thanks for doing  the research.  Good stuff 

   

  Tracey de Morsella, Managing Producer

  The Green Economy Post

  http://greeneconomypost.com

  tra...@greeneconomypost.com

  Phone: 425-502-7716

   

  From: Albert Fields [mailto:cbilmarket...@yahoo.com] 
  Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 8:16 PM
  To: tdemorse...@multiculturaladvantage.com; kalpub...@aol.com; 
scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; dar...@darylelockhart.com; afrikanm...@hotmail.com; 
bettil...@msn.com; cinque3...@verizon.net; dorothyh...@sbcglobal.net; 
duva...@hotmail.com; fis...@bellsouth.net; gwashin...@aol.com; 
jeffreypbal...@gmail.com; killa...@gmail.com; keithbjohn...@comcast.net; 
imke...@gmail.com; seriousnup...@yahoo.com; logic1...@aol.com; 
truthseeker...@icqmail.com; mmb1...@gmail.com; gord...@indiana.edu; 
michael.v.w.gor...@gmail.com; ravena...@yahoo.com; rs...@yahoo.com; 
everything...@nyc.rr.com; valeryjea...@yahoo.com; wendellsmit...@gmail.com; 
sonofafieldne...@sbcglobal.net; williamsf...@speakeasy.net; beta...@yahoo.com
  Subject: Re: George Washington became a abolitionist (in closet)

   

  All you did was get me searching.

   

   

  Here is something else on washington and slavery.

   

  Washington and slavery
  Historians' perceptions of Washington's stand on slavery tend to be mixed.[7] 
Although Washington never made any public statement about slavery or the 
treatment of slaves, it is clear that as he progressed in life, he became 
increasingly uneasy with the "peculiar institution," and historian Roger Bruns 
wrote: "As he grew older, he became increasingly aware that it was immoral and 
unjust." 

  According to historians such as Clayborne Carson and Gary Nash, Washington's 
professed hatred of slavery was offset by his denial of freedom to even those 
slaves, like William "Billy" Lee, who fought with Washington for eight years. 
Lee lived at Mount Vernon as a slave, although his wife was a free woman from 
Philadelphia, named Margaret Thomas. Although some historians claim that it is 
not known whether she lived with him on the plantation,[8] most sources 
indicate that she did not.[9] Billy Lee was the only slave freed outright in 
Washington's will. 

  After the revolution, Washington told an English visitor, "I clearly foresee 
that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our 
[Federal] union by consolidating it on a common bond of principle." The buying 
and selling of slaves, as if they were "cattle in the market," especially 
outraged him. He wrote to his friend John Francis Mercer in 1786, "I never mean 
… to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see 
some plan adopted, by which slavery in this country may be abolished by slow, 
sure, and imperceptible degrees." [10] Ten years later he wrote to Robert 
Morris: "There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see 
some plan adopted for the abolition [of slavery]."[11] 

   

  As president, Washington was mindful of the risk of splitting apart the young 
republic over the question of slavery. He did not advocate the abolition of 
slavery while in office, but he signed legislation enforcing the prohibition of 
slavery in the Northwest Territory, writing to his good friend and 
Revolutionary War comrade, Marquis de la Fayette that he considered it a wise 
measure. Lafayette urged him to free his slaves as an example to others. 
Washington was held in such high regard after the revolution that there was 
reason to hope that if he freed his slaves, others would follow his example. 
Lafayette purchased an estate in French Guiana and settled his own slaves 
there, and he offered a place for Washington's slaves, writing, "I would never 
have drawn my sword in the cause of America if I could have conceived thereby 
that I was founding a land of slavery." Washington did not free his slaves in 
his lifetime but included a provision in his will to free the slaves upon the 
death of his wife. Martha Washington did not wait on this, and instead freed 
the Washington slaves on January 1, 1801. Billy Lee was the only slave freed 
outright upon George Washington's death. 

  One of Washington's slaves, Oney Judge Staines, escaped the Executive Mansion 
in Philadelphia in 1796 and lived the rest of her life free in New 
Hampshire.[12] 

   

  http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/George_Washington


   

  "El mundo es tuyo" 

   

   


--

  From: Tracey de Morsella 
  To: Albert Fields ; kalpub...@aol.com; 
scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com; dar...@darylelockhart.com; afrikanm...@hotmail.com; 
bettil...@msn.com; cinque3...@verizon.net; dorothyh...@sbcglobal.net; 
duva...@hotmail.com; fis...@bellsouth.net; gwashin...@aol.com; 
jeffreypbal...@gmail.com; killa...@gmai

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Riddle of the sexless rotifer 'solved'

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff.

- Original Message - 
From: World Science 
To: emailn...@world-science.net 
Sent: Thursday, January 28, 2010 7:58 PM
Subject: World Science: Riddle of the sexless rotifer 'solved'


* Riddle of the sexless rotifer solved, 
biologists say:
An microscopic freshwater animal has gotten
by without sex for millions of years.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100128_rotifer


* Snail's armor could offer human protection:
The robust, efficient shell of a deep-sea snail
could provide inspiration for advances in human body
armor design, researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100119_armor


* Report: cancer studies used wrong cells
A study raises questions about over 100 published
studies, two clinical trials and possibly much
additional research.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100114_wrongcells


* Some dino feather colors identified:
The color of some feathers on dinosaurs and early
birds is now known for the first time, some scientists 
report.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100127_feather


* Study: recognition of facial expressions not
universal
Caucasians and Asians don't examine faces in the
same way, according to new research.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100126_faces


* Almost never-seen bird resurfaces in 
Afghanistan:
A species with just a handful of documented human
sightings in its past has turned up in a war-torn
land, scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100125_orinus


* "Survival of the cutest" said to back up Darwin:
Domestic dogs have followed a unique evolutionary
path, according to a new study.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100122_cutest


* Post-traumatic stress diagnosed using 
magnetism:
Post-traumatic stress disorder, which afflicts war
veterans and others, was previously detectable only
through psychological screening.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100121_ptsd


* Scientists: docs don't feel your pain 
much -- and that may be best:
If you've ever felt like you've had a doctor who
just didn't care, researchers now have an
explanation.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/100120_physicians


* Stress may cause cancer, study suggests:
The research also points to new ways to attack the
deadly disease, scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/100113_stress-cancer






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
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To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
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02:36:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Samuel Delany's 70-Year Romance Novel Coming This Fall

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
This is very good news indeed!
Cheers!
Amy
  Subject: [scifinoir2] Samuel Delany's 70-Year Romance Novel Coming This Fall





   

  - http://io9.com/5467952/samuel-delanys-70+year-romance-novel-coming-this-fall

   

  You think your love affair is long lasting? Your romance is but an eyeblink 
compared to that of the characters in Samuel R. Delany's new novel - which is 
finally coming out this fall.

  When we interviewed Delany a while back, he was excited about his new novel, 
Through The Valley Of The Nest Of Spiders, but didn't yet have a publisher or 
release date. He described it to us:

  In a way, it's a very simple story, just about two working-class gay men, who 
meet when they're seventeen and nineteen, living on the coast of Georgia. They 
meet in 2007, and they stay together for the next 80 years, until one of them 
dies. Now you tell me whether that's science fiction or not. It definitely goes 
into the future, but on the other hand, they're absolutely out of the center of 
life, and things progress where they live, very very slowly. And they hear 
about things that are going on outside. They live on coastal part of Georgia in 
a little town that does go through cycles of being a semi-popular tourist spot 
in the summers, and then some years, nobody bothers to come at all. Eventually 
they move to a little island off the coast, and a little lesbian art colony 
starts up on the island. And they wonder if they're not being crowded out of 
their new home. But they're very fond of some of the people who live there, and 
some of the people who live there are very fond of them.

  Delany just appeared on the Cover To Cover podcast, and revealed that Nest Of 
Spiders is coming out this fall, from Alyson Books. Writes Matthew Cheney:

  It was the first time I'd publicly heard the release date of Chip's new 
novel, Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders, which is scheduled to be 
releaed in November from Alyson Books, where the great Don Weise, who was the 
editor for Dark Reflections, is now the publisher. A version of part of the new 
novel appeared in Black Clock 7 a few years ago, and Chip read some of it aloud 
at Readercon this past summer. It tells the story of the relationship of two 
men, starting in 2007 and continuing for about seventy years into the future.

  So now I guess it's 70 years, rather than 80 years. In either case, I'm still 
dying to read this novel.

   

  Send an email to Charlie Jane Anders, the author of this post, at 
charliej...@io9.com. 

   




  


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14:35:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Cave in Mexico has World's Largest Crystals

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  Journey to the Center of the Earth, anyone?
  Love it!  WOW!
  Amy

  Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Cave in Mexico has World's Largest Crystals


  That's Superman's fortress of solitude. :) 



  On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 8:02 PM, Keith Johnson  
wrote:




This is freakin' awesome! Who says you need to go to outer space to find 
alien environments? This reminds me of innumerable scifi films I've seen over 
the years with similar settings...

This is definitely worth taking a look at. Click on the pics for a larger 
view.

*
http://www.stormchaser.ca/Caves/Naica/Naica.html

The Crystal Cave of Giants was accidentally discovered in 2000 by miners 
working in the silver and lead mine at Naica, Mexico. It lies almost 300 meters 
(900 feet) below the surface of the Earth and it contains the largest crystals 
known in the world, by far. The largest crystals are over 11 meters long (36 
feet) and weigh 55 tons.

The crystals themselves are made of selenite which is crystallized gypsum, 
the same material used in drywall construction. Except these crystals formed 
over a span of about half a million years in a hot water solution, saturated 
with minerals. The the temperature inside the cave remained very consistently 
hot for the entire time the crystals were growing.
 
It is still incredibly hot in the cave due its proximity to a magma 
chamber, deep underground. The air temperature is 50C with a relative humidity 
of over 90%, making the air feel like an unbearable 105C (228F) Entering the 
cave without special protective suits can be fatal in 15 minutes. I will be 
entering the cave wearing a special cooling suit with chilling packs inside and 
a specialized backpack respirator which will allow me to breath chilled air. 
Even with all this equipment, I will still only be able to stay in the cave for 
no more than 45 minutes at a time.
 
In extreme heat, the body begins to lose higher brain functions which made 
the expedition much more difficult with the risk of falling into deep pits, or 
being impaled on a sharp crystal. All the camera gear needs to be slowly 
brought up to temperature beforehand by pre-heating it and most cameras with 
moving parts and tape mechanisms simply will not work at all.
 
It is as dangerous as it is beautiful.  

When the call comes over the radio to get out... It is time to go. 
Climbing up onto one of the larger crystals. 
When we first arrived at the Naica mine, Manuel and his crew took us inside 
without wearing the special cooling suits. This was in order to get us used to 
what REAL heat is like. There is a steel door protecting the cave and as soon 
as you pass through it, the temperature hits you like a truck, but as soon as 
you get your first glimpse of the incredible crystals, you want to keep going 
deeper. We were inside for only 14 minutes, which was pushing the danger limits 
without cooling suits. When we exited, the staging area was a "cool" 41 
Celsius. My heart was pounding and I was completely soaked in sweat, my shirts, 
pants, socks & boots... Everything. All we could do was sit, drink and rest.
 
The next day, the real exploration began. We had left our camera gear 
inside the cave the night before, sealed up in air tight bags so that it could 
slowly warm up to the ambient temperature of the cave. Without doing this, all 
the gear would fog up, form a layer of condensation and become totally useless.







  -- 
  Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! 
  Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/






  


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02:35:00

[scifinoir2] Minerals and life

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Fascinating stuff!

Subject:  Minerals and life


> Hi:
> The March 2010 Scientific American includes the article:
>
> Evolution of Minerals; March 2010; by Robert M. Hazen; 8 Page(s)
>
> The article indicates that in the early stages of Earth's history there 
> were only about 250 mineral compounds. This is what they estimate most 
> planet / moon-type objects have if they don't have processes that will 
> help produce additional compounds. They estimate that even assuming Mars 
> once had seas that dried up, it is unlikely to have more than 500 
> compounds. Venus' more active geological forces, atmosphere, etc. probably 
> have produced more. Similarly, Earth's geological, atmospheric and oceanic 
> forces produced additional compounds even before life had much impact. 
> However, after plants had increased the oxygen content of the air, another 
> 1000+ compounds were produced. They estimate that later life processes 
> lead to about 2000 more compounds - so that Earth now has about 4400.
>
> The article suggests that scientists might use the presence of large 
> numbers of mineral compounds on other worlds as an indicator of past or 
> present life there.
>
> The information in the article suggests that other worlds without past or 
> present life will have limited numbers of mineral compounds. It occurred 
> to me this may have implications for human colonization of other worlds. 
> Part of the reason geological and life processes are needed to create 
> additional compounds is that without those forces some chemical elements 
> are scattered too widely to form useful concentrations. Other worlds with 
> few compounds and limited concentrations of certain elements for mining 
> could prevent adequate availability of natural resources needed for a 
> technological society.
>
> Of course, humans could avoid life-less worlds and try to colonize worlds 
> with life. However, planets with a robust enough ecology to produce a 
> native intelligent species aren't appropriate for human colonization. 
> Planets with life (but no intelligent life) may be the best option, 
> although the native life more likely than not won't be healthy and 
> nutritious for Earth life. We can import Earth plants and animals, but the 
> native life will presumably be better adapted to the specifics of that 
> planet. Colonization might be more involved than previously thought.
>
> Other articles in the March Scientific American include:
>
> Heavy Brows, High Art; March 2010; by Charles Q. Choi; 2 Page(s)
> Were Neandertals our mental equals?
>
> Dark Side of Black Holes; March 2010; by Charles Q. Choi; 3 Page(s)
> Dark matter could explain the early universe's giant black holes
>
> The Moon That Would Be A Planet; March 2010; by Ralph Lorenz and 
> Christophe Sotin; 8 Page(s)
> Titan, Saturn's largest natural satellite, scarcely deserves to be a 
> called a mere moon. It has an atmosphere thicker than Earth's and a 
> surface that is almost as varied
>
> The Brain's Dark Energy; March 2010; by Marcus E. Raichle; 6 Page(s)
> Brain regions active when our minds wander may hold a key to understanding 
> neurological disorders and even consciousness itself
>
> Fusion's False Dawn; March 2010; by Ben Knight; 8 Page(s)
> Scientists have long dreamed of harnessing nuclear fusion—the power plant 
> of the stars—for a safe, clean and virtually unlimited energy supply. Even 
> as a historic milestone nears, skeptics question whether a working reactor 
> will ever be possible
>
> Climate Change: A Controlled Experiment; March 2010; by Stan D. 
> Wullschleger and Maya Strahl; 6 Page(s)
> Scientists have carefully manipulated grasslands and forests to see how 
> precipitation, carbon dioxide and temperature changes affect the 
> biosphere, allowing them to forecast the future
>





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Re: [scifinoir2] OT: More Upsetting than Stack's Actions are those who Understand His Feelings

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Couldn't agree more.
Amy
  Subject: [scifinoir2] OT: More Upsetting than Stack's Actions are those who 
Understand His Feelings





  Most frightening of all? I was watching CNN today ,and Rick Sanchez said they 
were getting a *lot* of e-mails, Tweets, and Facebook messages from people who 
said they understood this guy's feelings. They were quick to say they didn't 
agree with his *actions*, but did understand how he felt so upset and helpless.

  That's the kind of bullsh** talk that explains why Congress is paralyzed, Tea 
Partyers abound, and we have a thinly veiled racist attack against all things 
Obama. I find it amazing how so many "mainstream" Americans are so quick to 
sympathize with those who rail against big government, the IRS, gun control, 
etc. I remember when the government would go after nutty 
racist/child-abusing/gun packing survivalist/white supremacy groups, many 
Americans railed against the government.  Terms like "jack-booted thugs" were 
used to describe federal agents going after the Branch Davidians, where men 
were force marrying eleven-year-old girls, yet the government was seen as evil. 
 Yet when that same government fights the "war on terror", or persecutes groups 
like the Move Organization,  or tortures foreign prisoners, suddenly that 
government is just aces.

  It still amazes me how many "mainstream" Americans are so quick to understand 
hatred of the government, to sympathize with those who make all kinds of 
threats against politicians, and to be proud of all but toting guns to rallies 
and yelling about "the blood of patriots". And they get away with it. Todd 
Palin hangs out with separatist Alaskan nutjobs, and his wife's a celebrity. 
Michelle Obama says she's proud of America like never before, and she's a 
commie/pinko traitor.   If black people were half as vocal in expressing much 
more justified hatred and distrust of the government, if we were so quick to 
speak about overthrowing the government and sympathize with anti-government 
nuts, they'd be all over us. Just ask the Panthers, the Move Organization, and 
Mumia Abu Jamal...


  *
  www.cnn.com


(CNN) -- The remains of two people have been found in an Austin, Texas, 
building where a man crashed a small plane, authorities said.

The identities of the two dead people have not been confirmed, the 
Austin Fire Department said in a statement. Two other people who were injured 
in the incident were taken to a hospital, and 11 others were treated for minor 
injuries, Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said.

Authorities said Andrew Joseph Stack III, 53, an Austin resident with 
an apparent grudge against the Internal Revenue Service, set his house on fire 
Thursday and then crashed a Piper Cherokee PA-28 into the building, which 
houses an IRS office with nearly 200 employees, federal officials said.

"This appears to be an intentional act by a sole individual," Acevedo 
said at a news conference.

A fire created by the crash had been put out, save for some small 
areas, officials said. Fire crews were expected to continue to work through the 
night.
   




  


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  Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2695 - Release Date: 02/18/10 
02:34:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
All this is very fascinating.  
Amy
  Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians




  Not all of the Africans in Russia were there because of slavery. Pushkin's 
grand father was Ethiopian royalty and was a guest of the court. There are 
others as well during that time frame. 

  There were slaves there but not as many that were brought to Europe, Brazil, 
and America. 

  The former USSR is a mixture of a lot of different peoples. There are some 
people that resemble Arab, Asian Indian, Inuit, others Chinese, and other still 
a mixture of Caucasian and Asian. 


  On Fri, Feb 19, 2010 at 12:34 PM, Martin Baxter  
wrote:



Keith, in the case of Black Russians, they became Russian in much the same 
way we became American. If memory serves, Russian raiders, foraying out as far 
as north Africa, brought back Blacks and Arabs as slaves. Eventually, after 
being freed, they settled in enclaves, rather than risk the arduous trip back 
to their native lands.

"If all the world's a stage and all the people merely players, who in 
bloody hell hired the director?" -- Charles L Grant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik






To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
From: keithbjohn...@comcast.net
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:19:57 +
Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians

  


Dude, that "Black Obama" is a watermelon seller? I wonder if the irony of 
that is lost on a Russian?
I remember many stories about blacks in Russia and the pain they suffer. 
Remember a few short years ago there was violence at a dorm where African 
students were staying while at university? That was linked to racism by white 
Russians against those students of color.

I am still saddened and frankly, sometimes confused, at people of color 
going to places where they are even more in the minority. I get seeking out new 
and better opportunities. And I sure as hell get why Russia could have seemed 
more welcoming to people flying the horrors of Jim Crow America. But I have 
longed believed that it is important to be surrounded by people who look like 
you in addition to those who dont: it fosters a sense of belonging and comfort, 
it helps prevent one from feeling like some kind of oddity, and it can help 
shield from some of the more hostile barbs one might take. I have black friends 
here in America who have chosen to live in majority white areas, and they 
always end up with problems. I live in a very mixed community,and don't have 
those pressures at least.

- Original Message -
From: "Mr. Worf" 
To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, February 19, 2010 1:34:03 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
Subject: [scifinoir2] Untold African history: Black Russians

  



society
Russia’s Black Community
Kevin O’Flynn, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

 Image 1: “African-Russians activists demonstrate in a march against racism 
in the Volga city of Nizhy Novgorod”; Image 2: “Yelena Khanga (right) 
co-hosting a popular daytime TV show, The Domino Principle. She became one of 
Russia’s best-known celebrities;” Image 3: “Some African families have lived in 
Russia for several generations.”

Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile 
Environment
Society: African-Russians: Seeking their Place in an Often Hostile 
Environment
Russian reaction to President Barack Obama's visit seemed mixed, but he 
serves as inspiration to the country's little-known African-Russian community.
For Russians of African descent, President Barack Obama offers a potent 
symbol of triumph over the same challenges they themselves face in a country 
where dark-skinned people remain rare and often unwelcome.
Yelena Khanga is one of Russia’s best-known black citizens. The popular 
host of a top-rated 1990s chat show about sex – “Pro Eto,” (About That), she 
became one of the few black faces regularly seen on Russian television.
Khanga’s grandparents came to the Soviet Union in the 1920s to escape the 
racism they had endured in the United States as a mixed-race couple. Today, 
Khanga says Obama’s election to the American presidency has special meaning for 
her.
“He did what my grandmother and grandfather dreamed about in their day,” 
Khanga says. “They couldn’t even have dreamed that, one day, America would have 
a black president. The only dreams that they had—my grandmother was white, and 
my grandfather was black—was that Americans would someday allow mixed couples 
to live in peace, have children, and let the children have decent lives. That 
is what they dreamed about.” 
Khanga’s grandfather, Oliver Golden, became a member of the Communist Party 
in the United States after he failed to find work as anything but a waiter 
despite having a college degree. He soon left for the Soviet Union 

Re: [scifinoir2] Movie: Primer

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  I thought it was excellent.
  Cheers!
  Amy

  Subject: [scifinoir2] Movie: Primer




  Primer is a low budget indie film about two engineers that create a time 
travel device in their garage. Everything is great until they discover 
something wrong that happens in their future not of their own doing. 

  This award winning film takes a methodical approach to time travel and how it 
could possibly work from an engineer's point of view. 

  Has anyone seen this little film?



  -- 
  Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! 
  Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/



  


--



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14:34:00

Re: [scifinoir2] The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms available this week!

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Can't wait to get my copy!
Cheers!
Amy
I just adore this type of fantasy!

Subject: [scifinoir2] The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms available this week!


> Apologies for the crosspost, folks; just trying to be efficient in my
> shameless self-promotion.  =)
>
> I can has book!  My first novel, THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, first of 
> the
> Inheritance Trilogy, is officially available as of February 25th.  It's
> actually available already in many bookstores and from Amazon, if you 
> don't
> want to wait:
> http://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Thousand-Kingdoms-N-Jemisin/dp/0316043915
>
> A saga of gods and mortals, power and love, death and revenge, THE HUNDRED
> THOUSAND KINGDOMS follows Yeine, a young woman who is an estranged member 
> of
> the most powerful family in the world.  At her mother's death, she's 
> dragged
> back into the family politics, and must ally with the source of their 
> power
> -- a quartet of enslaved gods -- to survive.
>
> Despite the shamelessness of this message, I'm actually not great at 
> talking
> myself up, so I'll just refer you to my website (http://nkjemisin.com),
> where you can find:
> -A synopsis
> -Sample chapters
> -Some of the great reviews the book has been getting, including a starred
> review from Publisher's Weekly and Library Journal, and a "Top Pick" from
> Romantic times
> -Contests, interviews, and more!
>
> Please take a look-see, and spread the word!
>
> Nora (N. K. Jemisin)
>
> -- 
> The gods, enslaved.  A family with absolute power, absolutely corrupt.  A
> young woman whose rage can save the world.
>
> THE HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS, out now from Orbit Books!
> http://nkjemisin.com
>
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your SciFiNoir Profile at
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo!
>  
> Groups Links
>
>
>






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02:34:00

[scifinoir2] (OT) Vote Now: Choose Your Science Idol!

[Amy Harlib]

Hello! I wanted to pass this great opportunity along to you--a
chance to see some very funny political cartoons and win great
prizes!

On issues from air quality to global warming, government science
is being censored, manipulated, and distorted on an
unprecedented scale. To draw attention to this problem and have
a little fun, the Union of Concerned Scientists is hosting
Science Idol: the Scientific Integrity Editorial Cartoon
Contest. 

In April and May, they received hundreds of entries. In June,
UCS worked with four highly accomplished, award-winning
cartoonists and cartoon editors to narrow down the field to 12
talented finalists. 

Now, all of us have the chance to vote for the 2007 Science
Idol--and win a 2008 Defending Science calendar featuring the
best 12 cartoons. 

To see all of these great cartoons and submit your vote today,
visit 
http://ucsaction.org/campaign/science_idol_2007_vote?rk=J1_Ara11cwmpW

**
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[scifinoir2] Hold the Antibiotics!

[Amy Harlib]

Hello!
The best remedy for this is to go vegetarian like me but if you
can't give up eating dead animals, please respond to this action
alert.

I thought you might be interested in this alert from the Union
of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Please sign the UCS petition to
fast-food companies today, urging them to establish strict
policies on antibiotic use by their meat suppliers. If you go to
the URL below you can check out the details and send your own
message. 

Then please forward this email to ten friends. We really need
your help to spread the word. Take action today at
http://ucsaction.org/campaign/07_09_07_fast_food_antibiotics_petition?rk=t7_Ara11h9sNW

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Re: [scifinoir2] Gonna See "Beowulf"?

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yes. I will definitely see this.  I just can't get enough fantasy films.
Cheers!
Amy


A friend sent the review below. i might see, not sure. The "faces like 
creepy" thing is my main problem, and lame dialogue added to that: don't 
know. It's again why i prefer either straight 2D animation, CGI animation 
that's not trying to be completely real (like "The Incredibles", which i 
love), or live action/FX mixtures like "300" and "Sin City".

Oh: I must admit i've never completely read "Beowulf". By the time I reached 
high school, a lot of the old traditional reading curriculum my older 
brothers had taken had been eliminated. I remember my brothers (ten and six 
years older than me) discussing  "The Faerie Queen", "Catcher in the Rye", 
"The Canterbury Tales", and many other classics they had to read. But when I 
got to high school, many of those--and more--were no longer required 
reading. Some were shifted to advanced classes, but most had been dropped. 
I'm not quite sure if it was just a decline in the quality of my high 
school, a growth in conservatism that made fare like this uncomfortable to 
the powers that be, or a combination.

-- Original message -- 
From: "Kerrance Wright" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Here is the review from Movies.com:

OUR REVIEW
by Dave White

Who's in It: Ray Winstone, Angelina Jolie, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright 
Penn, Alison Lohman, Crispin Glover
The Basics: I shouldn't even have to tell you the story. You were supposed 
to have not blown it off when it was assigned in high school. But here's how 
it goes down: Beowulf battles the big giant monster Grendel. Kills Grendel 
(that's not a spoiler). Then he sort of "compromises" himself with Grendel's 
mother, who's not nearly as monstrous-looking as her son. Anyway, because 
Beowulf was thinking with his junk, the curse on the kingdom continues. This 
is why women should run all countries.
What's the Deal? This movie is 98 percent awesome (I'll get to the 2 percent 
lame in a minute) because the 3-D and the animation are that mind-blowing. 
Stuff comes at your face, from behind you and from below you. It's enough to 
make you sort of queasy if you're not ready for it. Anyway, the fight 
scenes - and there are plenty of them - are as exciting as anything you've 
seen in a movie all year. Who cares if it's all motion-capture and digital 
effects? It's not like you can do a live-action movie where someone fights a 
real sea monster. You're lucky you live right now instead of a hundred years 
ago when they had polio and no 3-D.
That Other 2 Percent: First, there's the matter of the dialogue, which 
sounds like people at a Renaissance fair drinking Pepsi and shouting, "Ay, 
wenches! This be fine mead!" But that's okay. It's not a documentary. The 
bigger problem is that they still haven't quite gotten human faces down yet 
in this motion-capture-animation stuff. Most of the time, Beowulf looks 
good, especially when he ages, but the secondary characters, and almost all 
the women save for Jolie (who sort of resembles a cartoon character in real 
life anyway) have blank expressionless doll faces, and it's sort of creepy.
How It's Like 300: Beowulf enjoys his own nudity. He fights naked. He 
lounges naked. He likes to recline on stone steps in the nude while having 
casual chats with his warrior comrades. Make him mad, and the first thing he 
does is rip off his shirt and start fighting you like he's waiting for 
Playgirl 500 A.D. to come shoot him for their centerfold. Oh, and nice 
Austin Powers gag there, Robert Zemeckis, covering Beowulf's mysterious 
cartoon man-bits with other people's arms, swords, andirons and other 
penis-shaped objects. That was funny.
Stay for the Credits and Count the Digital Animation People Who Are All 
Probably Really, Really Exhausted by Now: For example, I counted nearly 40 
names that worked on cloth and hair. That's it. Weeks and weeks of animating 
cloth and hair. Next time your boss makes you restock the plastic-cup lids 
for an hour, you think of that and count your blessings.
On 11/15/07, Keith Johnson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Anyone plan to see "Beowulf"?  I'm intrigued by the story, but frankly a 
little leery of the visual technology Zemeckis is using. The so-called 
"Polar Express" look, layering CGI-like effects over real life capture 
images, simply looks a little--creepy to me.  One problem I have with so 
much standard CGI movies like "Final Fantasy" or any of the myriad kid 
flicks, is that the humans often don't look real. They're stiff, facial and 
body muscles not smoothly or realistically drawn. The technology's getting 
better, true, but right now some of the characters look like walking 
corpses. Expressionless, herky-jerky walking corpses.  Some of the scenes 
I've seen from "Beowulf" are no different. Though better looking than "Polar 
Express", the characters still look stiff and dead to me.

Wonder why they didn't go with live action a

[scifinoir2] The Flying Spaghetti Monster

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yummy stuff!

 The Flying Spaghetti Monster


> URL to an article from CNN
> _http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/11/16/flying.spaghettimonster.ap/inde
> x.html_
> (http://www.cnn.com/2007/LIVING/personal/11/16/flying.spaghettimonster.ap/index.html)
>
> The moralists who came up w/Intelligent Design should have known they were
> leaving themselves open to this kind of ridicule.  Ah, well, one day
> Intelligent Design will go the way of phlogiston and aether.
>
> First few paragraphs
> "AP) -- When some of the world's leading religious  scholars gather in San
> Diego this weekend, pasta will be on the intellectual  menu. They'll be 
> talking
> about a satirical pseudo-deity called the Flying  Spaghetti Monster, whose
> growing pop culture fame gets laughs but also raises  serious questions 
> about the
> essence of religion.
>
>
>
> The appearance of the Flying  Spaghetti Monster on the agenda of the 
> American
> Academy of Religion's annual  meeting gives a kind of scholarly imprimatur 
> to
> a phenomenon that first emerged  in 2005, during the debate in Kansas over
> whether intelligent design should be  taught in public school sciences 
> classes.
>
>
>
> Supporters of intelligent design hold that the order and  complexity of 
> the
> universe is so great that science alone cannot explain it. The  concept's
> critics see it as faith masquerading as science.
> An Oregon State physics graduate named Bobby Henderson  stepped into the
> debate by sending a letter to the Kansas School Board. With  tongue in 
> cheek, he
> purported to speak for 10 million followers of a being  called the Flying
> Spaghetti Monster -- and demanded equal time for their  views.
>
> Don't Miss
>*   _American Academy of Religion_ (http://www.aarweb.org/)
>*   _Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster_ (http://www.venganza.org/)
>
> "We have evidence that a Flying Spaghetti Monster created  the universe. 
> None
> of us, of course, were around to see it, but we have written  accounts of
> it," Henderson wrote. As for scientific evidence to the contrary,  "what 
> our
> scientist does not realize is that every time he makes a measurement,  the 
> Flying
> Spaghetti Monster is there changing the results with His Noodly 
> Appendage."
> The letter made the rounds on the Internet, prompting  laughter from some 
> and
> vilification from others. But it struck a chord and stuck  around. In the
> great tradition of satire, its humor was in fact a clever and  effective
> argument.
> Between the lines, the point of the letter was this: There's  no more
> scientific basis for intelligent design than there is for the idea an 
> omniscient
> creature made of pasta created the universe. If intelligent design 
> supporters
> could demand equal time in a science class, why not anyone else? The  only
> reasonable solution is to put nothing into sciences classes but the best 
> available
> science.
> "I think we can all look forward to the time when these  three theories 
> are
> given equal time in our science classrooms across the  country, and 
> eventually
> the world; one third time for Intelligent Design, one  third time for 
> Flying
> Spaghetti Monsterism, and one third time for logical  conjecture based on
> overwhelming observable evidence," Henderson sarcastically  concluded."
>

[scifinoir2] Fw: interesting post all about race

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subject: interesting post at all about race


Not mine.

http://www.allaboutrace.com/2007/11/15/the-topsoil-guide-to-healthy-protest/




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

[scifinoir2] Fw: URGENT: Striking Writers Need Your Help

[Amy Harlib]

Striking Writers Need your Help
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Of great interest,



   


Striking Writers Need Your Help!

 

Tell studio executives you stand in solidarity with the 
writers. 

  Writers are the creative minds behind the shows and movies we 
all love to watch. Their work provides the foundation for the content produced 
by the entertainment industry.  But since November 5, 12,000 entertainment 
writers have been on strike. 

  These writers are on strike for a pretty simple reason:  they 
want fair compensation when their content is streamed on the Internet by the 
networks. Right now, writers get nothing for this work-even if written 
exclusively for online audiences-and the studios want to keep it that way.  

  Some of my favorite shows, like the "The Colbert Report" and 
"The Daily Show," have been running reruns for the last week-and I've just 
learned that tonight's episode of "The Office" is the last original show.  But 
I only want my favorite shows back if their writers can get a fair deal.

  Join me in sending a message to Hollywood executives: it's 
time to treat your writers fairly. 

  More and more TV shows are going to go off the air because of 
the stinginess of the studios.  It's estimated that the companies will bring in 
a whopping $4.6 billion over the next three years through the Internet-and they 
don't want to give the writers a penny.  The networks and studios tell the 
writers there's no money to be made online-then, the CEOs of the same companies 
brag to Wall Street that they're making tons of money online.  Which do you 
believe? 

  The entertainment industry should embrace new media, but not 
on the backs of its writers.  Sign our petition in protest now!

  You may ask, why should I care about Hollywood writers?   
Make no mistake - their fight is not just playing out in Hollywood. These 
hardworking men and women are taking a stand against corporate greed.  Just 
like any of us, they should be compensated fairly for the work that they do.  
We need to stand with them as they defend workers' rights and abilities in our 
new economy. 

  The strike has continued for 10 days because Hollywood 
studios refuse to sit down and seriously negotiate with the writers.  Stand in 
solidarity with the writers, and tell the studio companies to come back to the 
bargaining table and resolve this strike. 

  
http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/external/striking-writers-need-your-help.html

  Thank you for your help with this urgent request.  I'll be in 
touch as this campaign progresses. 

  Sincerely, 

  Liz Cattaneo,
  American Rights at Work

  www.americanrightsatwork.org



  P.S.  The writers have a blog where they post updates, 
photos, and videos from the picket lines.  Check it out at 
www.UnitedHollywood.com.

  Photo of striking writers by Flickr user idealterna.
 


--
 
  Visit the web address below to tell your friends about 
American Rights at Work. 
   Tell-a-friend!
 


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for American Rights at Work.  


  If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific American 
Rights at Work list, or update your account settings, you can visit your 
Subscription Management Page. To stop ALL email from American Rights at Work, 
Click here. 
 

   
 

 





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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Drastic diet may extend human life, study finds

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Interesting science stuff.  Does it really take a PHD to figure out that last 
one?  Sheesh!

Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll
http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F
Add this text to your own email and blog signatures!



* Drastic diet may extend human life: study
Researchers knew it worked in animals, but whether
we'd benefit has been unclear.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/071115_caloric.htm


* Monkey embryos reported cloned:
The work could lead to a way to produce
patient-specific stem cells for curing disease,
researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071114_clone.htm


* Cosmic mystery "solved" after decades:
Ultra-energetic cosmic rays probably come from
supermassive black holes, a study concludes.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071108_cosmic-rays.htm


* What's in a name? Studies link initials to 
success:
If you like your name too much, even unconsciously,
you might be in trouble, scientists suggest.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071114_initials.htm


* Alzheimer's "vaccine" seen to aid mice:
Immunization might blunt or even prevent the ravages
of Alzheimer's disease, researchers predict.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071113_alzheimer.htm


* Why poor kids may make sicker adults:
Scientists believe they're starting to understand
why the poor suffer worse health and shorter lives
than the rich.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071107_income.htm





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[scifinoir2] Undersea slide set off a giant flow

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]


Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll
http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F
Add this text to your own email and blog signatures!


> Interesting article from BBC News
> _http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7107318.stm_
> (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7107318.stm)
>
> Geologists are monitoring a cliff on the west coast of the Canary 
> Islands.
> They estimate that if this cliff falls into the Atlantic, a tidal  wave 
> could
> be created that will swamp the East Coast of the US.
>
> First few paragraphs
> "
>
> Undersea slide set off giant flow
>
>
> By Paul Rincon
> Science reporter, BBC News
>
>
>
> Sediment from the landslide was funneled through an  undersea canyon
>
>
> An enormous underwater landslide  60,000 years ago produced the longest 
> flow
> of sand and mud yet found on  Earth.
> The landslide off the coast of north-west Africa dumped 225 billion 
> metric
> tonnes of sediment into the ocean in a matter of hours or days.
> The flow travelled 1,500km (932 miles) - the distance from London to 
>  Rome -
> before depositing its sediment.
> The work, by a British team of researchers has been published in the
> academic journal Nature.
>
>
> It was at least as big as many volcanic  eruptions
>
>
>
> Peter Talling, University of  Bristol
>
> The massive  surge put down the same amount of sediment that comes out of 
> all
> the  world's rivers combined over a period of 10 years.
> After blocks from the original landslide disintegrated, the sand and  mud
> travelled hundreds of kilometres suspended in the water, without 
> depositing any
> sediment on the sea floor that it had passed over.
>
> The study used sediment cores drilled from the sea  bed
>
> Chris
>
> Dr  Talling likened this to avalanches in which the snow travels downslope 
> in
> huge clouds.
> A tiny drop in the sea-floor gradient (from 0.05 degrees to 0.01  degrees)
> eventually forced the flow to settle into a cohesive mass.
> In places, the flow was over 150km (93 miles) wide, spread across the 
> open
> sea floor.
>

Re: [scifinoir2] Gonna See "The Golden Compass"?

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I have copies but have not yet read the books.  I did meet Mr. Pullman at an 
author event and he's a very pleasant and dynamic guy and the excerpt he 
read was excellent.  I am very eager to see this film.
Cheers!
Amy


I'm actually looking forward to seeing this film. I know nothing about the 
books, but the trailer looks cool. Reminds me of "Narnia" or some aspects of 
"Lord of the Rings".  For me, being able to see a scifi or fantasy film 
based on material that's completely unfamiliar is a really exciting thing, 
like discovering new treasure.  I understand there's quite a bit of 
controversy because the auther is an avowed atheist who said his books are 
about "killing God".  Christians are upset because they say the film has 
been watered down, the atheist stuff removed. But then, they say, kids will 
want to read the books, and then be subjected to the anti-religious slant of 
the author.

Anyone read the books? Are they any good? Are they that overt in their 
preachments against spirituality and do the children indeed kill God--or a 
god--in them?

***
http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/blog/us/featured/story/lyras-world/

There is a world where witches rule the northern skies, where ice bears are 
the bravest of warriors, and where every human is joined with an animal 
spirit who is as close to them as their own heart. But this world is 
dominated by the Magisterium, which seeks to control all of humanity, and 
whose greatest threat is the last remaining Golden Compass and the one child 
destined to possess it.

Twelve year-old Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) lives an extraordinary 
life as a ward of distinguished Jordan College. Tearing unsupervised through 
the streets on mad quests for adventure with her loyal friend Roger (Ben 
Walker), Lyra is accompanied everywhere by her daemon, Pantalaimon (voiced 
by Freddie Highmore) - a small, ever-changing animal that serves as a 
constant voice of reason.

But Lyra's world is changing.

Her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig), is embarking on a trip to the Arctic 
Circle to investigate a mysterious element intriguingly called Dust, but the 
Magisterium would go to any lengths - including shutting down Jordan 
College - to stop him. At the same time, rumors of children mysteriously 
disappearing and being taken north become terrifyingly real when her best 
friend Roger goes missing. Lyra swears to go to the ends of the earth to 
rescue him, and when a new figure appears at the college - Marisa Coulter 
(Nicole Kidman), a beguiling scientist and world traveler - she sees her 
best chance to get away.

But Lyra finds that she has been drawn into a trap designed to take from her 
the one thing she possesses that the Magisterium desperately seeks - the 
Golden Compass.  Given to her as a gift by the Master of Jordan College 
(Jack Shepherd), it is a mystical, powerful device that can tell the truth, 
reveal what others wish to hide and foreshadow - and even change - the 
future.

At that moment, Lyra realizes that she will have to break away from Mrs. 
Coulter and embark on her own journey to rescue Roger and stop the 
Magisterium. But fate puts her in the company and protection of a tribe of 
seafaring Gyptians led by Lord Faa (Jim Carter), Ma Costa (Clare Higgins) 
and Farder Coram (Tom Courtenay). Banding together an unlikely alliance with 
the Gyptians, the mysterious witch Serafina Pekkala (Eva Green) and Texas 
airman Lee Scoresby (Sam Elliott), Lyra is flung into an adventure that will 
take her over sky and ocean, to the wilds of the icy north, where she gains 
a powerful ally in a great armored bear named Iorek Byrnison (voiced by Ian 
McKellen), who pledges to serve her in her campaign until she prevails.

A great war is coming - one that threatens not only Lyra's world but all the 
parallel worlds waiting just beyond the northern lights. With her band of 
friends and allies, and the power of the Golden Compass, Lyra will need all 
her skill and all her courage, to stop it.

New Line Cinema presents The Golden Compass, an epic fantasy adventure 
starring Oscar® winner Nicole Kidman (The Hours), newcomer Dakota Blue 
Richards, Sam Elliott (We Were Soldiers), Eva Green (Casino Royale) and 
Daniel Craig (Casino Royale).  Based on Philip Pullman's best-selling and 
award-winning first novel in his Dark Materials trilogy, the film is adapted 
and directed by Academy Award® nominee Chris Weitz (About A Boy).
The Golden Compass is produced by Deborah Forte and Bill Carraro, with 
executive producers Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne. Toby Emmerich, Mark 
Ordesky, Ileen Maisel, Andrew Miano and Paul Weitz also executive produce.

The distinguished cast also includes Academy Award® nominee Tom Courtenay 
(The Dresser), Derek Jacobi (Gosford Park), Jack Shepherd (Charlotte Gray), 
Ben Walker (BBC's "Sweeney Todd"), Simon McBurney (The Last King of 
Scotland), Jim Carter (Shakespeare in Love), Clare Higgin

[scifinoir2] ZOMBEATLES! HILARIOUS!

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
If you want to laugh harder than you have in a very long time - watch the 
ZOMBEATLES!
ROTFL!
Amy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP6nYs9Il7c

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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Breakthrough may let scientists make stem cells on demand

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cool science stuff.

Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll
http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F
Add this text to your own email and blog signatures!


* Breakthrough may let scientists make stem 
cells on demand:
Researchers say they appear to have success-
fully turned ordinary human cells into powerful 
stem cells, which could permit breakthrough 
medical treatments.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071120_stemcell.htm


* "Noah's flood" spread farming, researchers 
say:
A prehistoric deluge -- controversially linked to
ancient flood myths -- kick-started European
agriculture, a study claims.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071119_flood.htm


* Robot infiltrators sway roach group decisions:
They don't look like cockroaches -- but they smell
and act enough like them.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071116_roach.htm





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[scifinoir2] Fw: Real-Life Star Wars: The Militarization of Space

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Scarey stuff!

Vote in the National Cheney Impeachment Poll
http://www.usalone.com/blogvoices.php?Cheney%20Impeachment%3F
Add this text to your own email and blog signatures!


Real-Life Star Wars: The Militarization of Space
By Stan Cox, AlterNet
http://www.alternet.org/audits/67699/?page=4

Last January 11, a missile launched from China's Xichang Space Center destroyed 
a satellite 537 miles above the Earth's surface. Although the target was a 
weather satellite belonging to China itself (shot down ostensibly because it 
was obsolete), the act clearly rattled the U.S. space establishment.

Said one observer, The new space policy says we can defend the heavens with 
technology. But we can't, and the Chinese just proved it."

Precisely six years earlier, on Jan. 11, 2001, the Commission to Assess United 
States National Security Space Management and Organization issued a report to 
Congress. The group, which had been headed by President-elect George W. Bush's 
Defense Secretary-to-be Donald Rumsfeld, asserted that it's only a matter of 
time until there's all-out war in the heavens:


  We know from history that every medium -- air, land and sea -- has seen 
conflict. Reality indicates that space will be no different. Given this virtual 
certainty, the U.S. must develop the means both to deter and to defend against 
hostile acts in and from space -- and ensure continuing superiority.

The current thinking of military and industry officials was revealed last month 
at the annual Strategic Space and Defense Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. At 
that meeting, held in the backyard of the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).

And that strategy includes not just war mongering against countries like China 
and Pakistan by "space warriors," but it poses a threat to the safety and 
liberties of all Americans.

The Militarization of Space

Military space officials will have to develop new doctrine and concepts for 
offensive and defensive space operations, power projection in, from, and 
through space, and other military uses of space. -- Rumsfield's Commission 
Report

The opening talk at the Strategic Space conference was given by USSTRATCOM 
acting commander Lt. Gen. Robert Kehler, who repeated that old cliche about the 
Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times." Implicitly responding to 
China's January self-attack, he added, "Well you know what? We get paid to deal 
with interesting times."

But how USSTRATCOM plans to deal with them isn't clear. In 2002, the Air Force 
undersecretary for military space acquisitions told The New York Times that "We 
haven't reached the point of strafing and bombing from space," but that "we are 
exploring those possibilities."

This fall marks the 40th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty, an agreement 
among 98 nations (including the U.S.) that, banned nuclear arms from space but 
left out mention of other weapons. Nevertheless, no nation has ever launched an 
attack into or from space, and the costly US missile-defense program that began 
life two decades ago as President Reagan's "Star Wars" dream continues to 
founder.

Spending on missile defense has doubled since 2000, and the program is 
expanding into Poland and the Czech Republic. But Bruce Gagnon of Brunswick, 
Maine, coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in 
Space, believes the US Missile Defense Agency, with its current official budget 
of more than $9 billion, is just "a Trojan Horse."

He says, "Missile defense brings in the money but the real story is offensive, 
preemptive attack technologies for global strike. That's where the real action 
is." Gagnon agrees that current U.S. space policy remains entirely consistent 
with the aggressive stance taken in the Rumsfeld report, "although they have 
slacked off just a bit on their rhetoric."

In September, The New York Times relayed a similar message from a former 
Pentagon official, who said that space weapons are "still definitely part of 
the program, but they don't emphasize it because the arms-control people come 
out of the woodwork."

>From the World Policy Institute and other sources, we know about some of the 
>weapons under planning or development in the murkier parts of the 
>military-industrial budget: 



  a.. Micro-satellites that could stalk and destroy satellites of other nations 


  b.. The Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement (EAGLE) project, a 
series of orbiting mirrors to direct beams from ground- or air-based lasers at 
targets in space 


  c.. The ground-based Kinetic Energy Anti-Satellite Weapon, which could shoot 
down satellites with missiles, along with the Kinetic Energy Interceptor, a 
missile-defense system that could double as an anti-satellite weapon 


  d.. The Washington Post revealed this week that the Congress has appropriated 
$100 million for a space-weapon system called "Falcon," described as "a 
reusable Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle (HCV) capable of delivering 1

Re: [scifinoir2] Star Trek: The Menagerie at your local movie theater this month!

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
I saw it this past month too.  It is an episode I must have seen at least 5 
or 6 times but it never looked better and without commercials - bliss!   The 
extras were the best because they were new to me.
Live Long and Prosper,
Amy


> Don't know who else saw this - but it was better than most of the ST
> movies of recent memory.  While it was in one of the smaller auditoriums
> at the local 22 screen theatre-plex, the auditorium was full.  The extras
> with Eugene Roddenberry and snippets of behind the scenes footage were
> interesting and worthwhile as well.
>
> I hope more episodes find their way to theatres as well.  This was two
> hours  well spent.
>
> __
> James Landrith
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> cell: 703-593-2065 * fax: 760-875-8547
> AIM: jlnales * ICQ: 148600159
> MSN and Yahoo! Messenger: jlandrith
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/jlandrith
> http://www.jameslandrith.com
> http://www.multiracial.com
> http://www.multiracial.com/abolitionist/
> __
>
>
>>
>>
>> [source: http://www.fathomevents.com/details.aspx?eventid=685 ]
>>
>>
>> Boldly go where no man has gone before to see two of the most famous 
>> ³Star
>> Trek: The Original Series² episodes ­ your local movie theatre! By 
>> popular
>> demand a second night has been added!! ³Star Trek: The Original Series²
>> will
>> be beamed onto the big screen for two nights only in select movie 
>> theatres
>> nationwide on Tuesday, Nov. 13th at 7:30PM (local) and on Thursday,
>> November
>> 15th at 7:30PM & 10:30PM (local). This event features the original Season
>> 1
>> episodes ³The Menagerie² Part 1 and 2, digitally re-mastered in
>> High-Definition and Cinema Surround Sound.   Also included is greeting
>> from
>> creator Gene Roddenberry¹s son, Eugene ³Rod² Roddenberry and an exclusive
>> behind-the-scenes look at how the episodes were digitally re-mastered.
>> Please note ­ to purchase tickets for the 11/13 show, please search from
>> this page. If you are looking to purchase tickets to either of the 11/15
>> shows, please choose ³Star Trek: The Menagerie ENCORE² from the drop down
>> menu above.
>>
>> Event Synopsis:
>>
>> ³The Menagerie² features footage from the original ³Star Trek² pilot
>> episode titled ³The Cage.² Leonard Nimoy as Spock is the only character
>> that
>> made it from the pilot to the ³Star Trek² series ­ as well as Jeffrey
>> Hunter
>> in the role of the original commander of the starship Enterprise, Captain
>> Christopher Pike.
>>
>> The two-part episode features Spock and the familiar crew of the
>> Enterprise
>> including William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, DeForest Kelley as 
>> Dr.
>> McCoy, James Doohan as Scott, and Nichelle Nichols as Uhura. In this
>> episode, Spock is on trial for hijacking the Enterprise, telling a 
>> strange
>> tale of former Enterprise Captain Pike's imprisonment on Talos IV 13 
>> years
>> earlier and the past crew's attempts to rescue him ­ shown in ³flashback²
>> footage taken from the original pilot episode.
>>
>> An in-theatre exclusive greeting from creator Gene Roddenberry¹s son,
>> Eugene ³Rod² Roddenberry is included, as well as a behind-the-scenes look
>> at
>> how the episodes were digitally re-mastered from the original negatives ­
>> including the reinvention of the old TV show special effects using new 
>> CGI
>> animation, and the orchestral re-recording of the show¹s theme music.
>>
>> Please note: The event content will be shown in its original (TV) format,
>> 4x3.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> -- 
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> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.503 / Virus Database: 269.16.8/1154 - Release Date: 
> 11/27/2007 11:40 AM
>
> 

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: First reversal of aging in an organ claimed

[Amy harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cool science stuff.


* First reversal of aging in an organ claimed:
A short-term success in rejuvenating the skin of
mice points the way to future progress against
aging, scientists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071128_skin-aging.htm


* Antarctic image map to "revolutionize" 
research:
A new map of the frozen continent, in unprecedented
detail, is free on the Web.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071127_antarctica.htm


* Scientists hope to give artificial limbs 
"feelings":
New findings point to a way amputees could gain
sensation in their prostheses, allowing greater 
control, researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071126_prosthetic.htm


* A "Big Bang" of plant evolution:
Scientists are shedding light on what Charles Darwin
called an "abominable mystery": how flowers evolved.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071126_flowers.htm


* Site tied to Rome's legendary founding:
Archaeologists revealed a site said to have been
venerated as the cave where, by legend, a she-wolf
raised Rome's twin founders.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/071121_lupercale.htm





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[scifinoir2] Galaxies Are Born Of Violence Between Dark Matter and Interstellar Gas

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Wow science stuff.

 Galaxies Are Born Of Violence Between Dark Matter and Interstellar Gas


URL to an article in Science Daily News
_http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129183827.htm_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129183827.htm)


Also has some links to more articles about dark matter

First few paragraphs
"ScienceDaily (Nov. 30, 2007) — Researchers using  supercomputer simulations
have exposed a very violent and critical relationship  between interstellar
gas and dark matter when galaxies are born -- one that has  been largely 
ignored
by the current model of how the universe evolved.
See also: The findings, published in Science, solve a  longstanding problem
of the widely accepted model -- Cold Dark Matter cosmology  -- which 
suggests
there is much more dark matter in the central regions of  galaxies than 
actual
scientific observations suggest.
"This standard model has been hugely successful on the largest of
scales--those above a few million light-years--but suffers from several 
persistent
difficulties in predicting the internal properties of galaxies," says 
Sergey
Mashchenko, research associate in the Department of Physics &  Astronomy at
McMaster University. "One of the most troublesome issues concerns  the 
mysterious
dark matter that dominates the mass of most galaxies."
Supercomputer cosmological simulations prove that indeed, this problem can 
be
 resolved. Researchers modeled the formation of a dwarf galaxy to illustrate
the  very violent processes galaxies suffer at their births, a process in
which dense  gas clouds in the galaxy form massive stars, which, at the ends 
of
their lives,  blow up as supernovae.
"These huge explosions push the interstellar gas clouds back and forth in 
the
 centre of the galaxy," says Mashchenko, the lead author of the study. "Our
high-resolution model did extremely accurate simulations, showing that this
'sloshing' effect -- similar to water in a bathtub-- kicks most of the dark
matter out of the centre of the galaxy."

Chris

("The avalanche has started, it's too late for the pebbles to  vote.")




**Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest
products.
(http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop000301)


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




Yahoo! Groups Links





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11:40 AM

[scifinoir2] ODETTA DEAD!

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
WAAAH!  One of my favorite artists is gone!
We lost Miriam Makeba and now ODETTA!  
What irreplaceable titans of talent!

A CIVIL RIGHTS LIGHT GOES OUT



Odetta, the American civil rights beacon, died last night.

She said the music of the Great Depression, particularly the prison songs and 
work songs from the fields of the deep South where she was born, helped shape 
her musical life.

Odetta is best remembered for her performance at the August 1963 march on 
Washington, a pivotal event in the civil rights movement, at which she sang the 
song "O Freedom."

[scifinoir2] Fw: Odetta Tribute. Technically Loaded!

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]





American Folk Music Legend Odetta Holmes Dies at 77

http://cafecamuspoliticalcoffeehouse.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post_03.html



"If only one could be sure that every 50 years a voice and a soul like Odetta's 
would come along, the centuries would pass so quickly and painlessly we would 
hardly recognize time" 
– Maya Angelou, Poet Laureate-

-- 
Ed. Dickau











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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Poverty may reduce kids' brain function

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Interesting science stuff.


* Chemistry of other stars' planets coming to 
light:
Astronomers have identified carbon dioxide around a
planet outside our solar system.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081209_co2


* Brain drugs for healthy people OK: 
scientists
Healthy people should be allowed to take 
brainpower-boosting drugs, if the risks are 
properly managed, some researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081207_brain1


* Poverty may reduce kids' brain function:
Scientists are calling new findings an alarming
"wake-up call."

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081206_brain


* Happiness spreads socially, study finds:
Your happiness may depend on many people you don't
know -- friends of friends of friends.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081204_happiness


* How unusual cells may hold key to HIV control:
Rare people who manage to control HIV on their own
are offering new insights into how the immune system
kills infected cells.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/081204_hiv


* Scientists produce illusion of body-swapping:
Neuroscientists say they have gotten people to
perceive the bodies of mannequins and other people
as their own.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081202_swap






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
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http://www.world-science.net/2007 


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[scifinoir2] Majel Barrett-Roddenberry dies at 76

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Such sad news!  I was a Trek fan from the very first episode in 1969!
SHE WILL BE MISSED!
*SIGH*
Amy

Subject:  Majel Barrett-Roddenberry dies at 76


> Access Hollywood
> updated 1:39 p.m. MT, Thurs., Dec. 18, 2008
> "Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, the wife of "Star Trek" creator Gene
> Roddenberry, has passed away, Access Hollywood has learned. She was 76..."
>
> http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28300175/
>
>
> ___
> Simegen-l mailing list
> simege...@simegen.com
> http://www.simegen.com/mailman/listinfo.cgi/simegen-l






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10:16 AM

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Odd bird fathering styles may come from dinos

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff!

Subject: World Science: Odd bird fathering styles may come from dinos


* Odd bird fathering styles may come from 
dinos:
Males in some flightless bird species are devoted
fathers -- and polygamists.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081217_dinosaur


* Is global warming preventing an Ice Age?:
While human-caused effects are potentially leading
Earth to disaster, they may also be preventing a
cold spell, some researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081217_warming.htm


* At least 8 genes tied to obesity, all in 
brain:
Variants of at least eight genes contribute to
determining body weight, scientists have
found.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081216_obesity


* God, science no easy mix for many:
In many or most people's minds, religion and science
conflict fundamentally, a study suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081215_religion


* Wobbly planets could reveal Earth-like moons:
Moons outside our Solar System capable of supporting
life may have just become easier to find.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081212_moons


* Distant moons may have liquid oceans:
Tidal motions may generate enough heat to maintain
liquid oceans within the outer planets' icy moons, a
scientist says.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081210_moons






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

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To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
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year after the homepage address: for example, 

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Re: [scifinoir2] FW: Black Blind Boy and Man Can See - No Eyes

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  The BBC reported on this too.

   

  THIS BLACK BLIND BOY CAN SEE; BELOW AN AFRICAN BLIND MAN WHO ALSO SEE

   

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLziFMF4DHA 

   

  December 23, 2008

  Blind, Yet Seeing: The Brain’s Subconscious Visual Sense 
  By BENEDICT CAREY

  <>

  The man, an [African] doctor left blind by two successive strokes, refused to 
take part in the experiment. He could not see anything, he said, and had no 
interest in navigating an obstacle course — a cluttered hallway — for the 
benefit of science. Why bother?
  When he finally tried it, though, something remarkable happened. He zigzagged 
down the hall, sidestepping a garbage can, a tripod, a stack of paper and 
several boxes as if he could see everything clearly. A researcher shadowed him 
in case he stumbled. 
  “You just had to see it to believe it,” said Beatrice de Gelder, a 
neuroscientist at Harvard and Tilburg University in the Netherlands, who with 
an international team of brain researchers reported on the patient on Monday in 
the journal Current Biology. A video is online at 
www.beatricedegelder.com/books.html.
  The study, which included extensive brain imaging, is the most dramatic 
demonstration to date of so-called blindsight, the native ability to sense 
things using the brain’s primitive, subcortical — and entirely subconscious — 
visual system. 
  Scientists have previously reported cases of blindsight in people with 
partial damage to their visual lobes. The new report is the first to show it in 
a person whose visual lobes — one in each hemisphere, under the skull at the 
back of the head — were completely destroyed. The finding suggests that people 
with similar injuries may be able to recover some crude visual sense with 
practice.
  “It’s a very rigorously done report and the first demonstration of this in 
someone with apparent total absence of a striate cortex, the visual processing 
region,” said Dr. Richard Held, an emeritus professor of cognitive and brain 
science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who with Ernst Pöppel and 
Douglas Frost wrote the first published account of blindsight in a person, in 
1973.
  The man in the new study, an African living in Switzerland at the time, 
suffered the two strokes in his 50s, weeks apart, and was profoundly blind by 
any of the usual measures. Unlike people suffering from eye injuries, or 
congenital blindness in which the visual system develops abnormally, his brain 
was otherwise healthy, as were his eyes, so he had the necessary tools to 
process subconscious vision. What he lacked were the circuits that cobble 
together a clear, conscious picture.
  The research team took brain scans and magnetic resonance images to see the 
damage, finding no evidence of visual activity in the cortex. They also found 
no evidence that the patient was navigating by echolocation, the way that bats 
do. Both the patient, T. N., and the researcher shadowing him walked the course 
in silence.
  The man himself was as dumbfounded as anyone that he was able to navigate the 
obstacle course.
  “The more educated people are,” Dr. de Gelder said, “in my experience, the 
less likely they are to believe they have these resources that they are not 
aware of to avoid obstacles. And this was a very educated person.”
  Scientists have long known that the brain digests what comes through the eyes 
using two sets of circuits. Cells in the retina project not only to the visual 
cortex — the destroyed regions in this man — but also to subcortical areas, 
which in T. N. were intact. These include the superior colliculus, which is 
crucial in eye movements and may have other sensory functions; and, probably, 
circuits running through the amygdala, which registers emotion. 
  In an earlier experiment, one of the authors of the new paper, Dr. Alan Pegna 
of Geneva University Hospitals, found that the same African doctor had 
emotional blindsight. When presented with images of fearful faces, he cringed 
subconsciously in the same way that almost everyone does, even though he could 
not consciously see the faces. The subcortical, primitive visual system 
apparently registers not only solid objects but also strong social signals. 
  Dr. Held, the M.I.T. neuroscientist, said that in lower mammals these 
midbrain systems appeared to play a much larger role in perception. In a study 
of rats published in the journal Science last Friday, researchers demonstrated 
that cells deep in the brain were in fact specialized to register certain 
qualities of the environment. 
  They include place cells, which fire when an animal passes a certain 
landmark, and head-direction cells, which track which way the face is pointing. 
But the new study also found strong evidence of what the scientists, from the 
Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, called “border 
cells,” which fire when an animal is close to a wall or boundary of some kind.
  All of these type

[scifinoir2] Re: [SciFiNoir Lit] Yuletide Greetings

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO EVERYBODY TOO!
AMY

Subject: [SciFiNoir Lit] Yuletide Greetings


> "We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our
> individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame.  If White people
> are pleased, we are glad.  If they are not, it doesn't matter...If
> colored people are pleased, we are glad.  If they are not, their
> displeasure doesn't matter either..."
>
> ~Langston Hughes, 1926
>
> Merry Christmas, one and all!
>
> ~rave!
>
>
> 
>
> Community email addresses:
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[scifinoir2] How Small Can Computers Get? Computing In A Molecule

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Fascinating!

How Small Can Computers Get? Computing In A Molecule


URL to an interesting articles in Science Daily News
_http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081222113532.htm_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/12/081222113532.htm)

At some point, computers will be everywhere.  I wonder what the world  will
be like.  Will it be some sort of 1984ish world where every movement  and
gesture is recorded and analyzed, or a paradise, or will this  ubiquitous 
computing
 transcend us into something bigger and greater?

First few paragraphs
"ScienceDaily (Dec. 30, 2008) —  Over the last 60 years, ever-smaller
generations of transistors have driven  exponential growth in computing 
power. Could
molecules, each turned into  miniscule computer components, trigger even
greater growth in computing over the  next 60?

*

Atomic-scale computing, in which computer processes are carried out in a
single molecule or using a surface atomic-scale circuit, holds vast promise 
for
the microelectronics industry. It allows computers to continue to increase 
in
processing power through the development of components in the nano- and pico
scale. In theory, atomic-scale computing could put computers more powerful
than  today’s supercomputers in everyone’s pocket.
“Atomic-scale computing researchers today are in much the same position as
transistor inventors were before 1947. No one knows where this will lead,” 
says
 Christian Joachim of the French National Scientific Research Centre’s 
(CNRS)
 Centre for Material Elaboration & Structural Studies (CEMES) in Toulouse,
France.
Joachim, the head of the CEMES Nanoscience and Picotechnology Group (GNS), 
is
 currently coordinating a team of researchers from 15 academic and 
industrial
 research institutes in Europe whose groundbreaking work on developing a
molecular replacement for transistors has brought the vision of atomic-scale
computing a step closer to reality. Their efforts, a continuation of work 
that
began in the 1990s, are today being funded by the European Union in the
Pico-Inside project.
In a conventional microprocessor – the “motor” of a modern computer –
transistors are the essential building blocks of digital circuits, creating 
logic
gates that process true or false signals. A few transistors are needed to
create a single logic gate and modern microprocessors contain billions of 
them,
each measuring around 100 nanometres.
Transistors have continued to shrink in size since Intel co-founder Gordon 
E.
 Moore famously predicted in 1965 that the number that can be placed on a
processor would double roughly every two years. But there will inevitably 
come a
 time when the laws of quantum physics prevent any further shrinkage using
conventional methods. That is where atomic-scale computing comes into play 
with
 a fundamentally different approach to the problem.
“Nanotechnology is about taking something and shrinking it to its smallest
possible scale. It’s a top-down approach,” Joachim says. He and the
Pico-Inside  team are turning that upside down, starting from the atom, the 
molecule,
and  exploring if such a tiny bit of matter can be a logic gate, memory 
source,
or  more. “It is a bottom-up or, as we call it, 'bottom-bottom' approach
because we  do not want to reach the material scale,” he explains.
Joachim’s team has focused on taking one individual molecule and building up
computer components, with the ultimate goal of hosting a logic gate in a
single  molecule.
How many atoms to build a computer?
“The question we have asked ourselves is how many atoms does it take to 
build
 a computer?” Joachim says. “That is something we cannot answer at present,
but  we are getting a better idea about it.”
The team has managed to design a simple logic gate with 30 atoms that 
perform
 the same task as 14 transistors, while also exploring the architecture,
technology and chemistry needed to achieve computing inside a single 
molecule
and to interconnect molecules.
They are focusing on two architectures: one that mimics the classical design
of a logic gate but in atomic form, including nodes, loops, meshes etc., and
another, more complex, process that relies on changes to the molecule’s 
conf
ormation to carry out the logic gate inputs and quantum mechanics to perform
the computation.
**New year...new news.  Be the first to know what is making
headlines. (http://www.aol.com/?ncid=emlcntaolcom0026)

[scifinoir2] Study links mammoth extinction, comets

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Really fascinating!

 Study links mammoth extinction, comets


> URL to an interesting article in USAToday
> _http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-01-01-mammothimpact_N.htm_
> (http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-01-01-mammothimpact_N.htm)
>
> This reinforces
> how vulnerable we are.  (I sure mis those Irish elk and cave  bears.)
>
> First few paragraphs
>
>
>
> By _Dan Vergano_
> (http://www.usatoday.com/community/tags/reporter.aspx?id=133) , USA TODAY
> A swarm of comets that smacked North America 12,900 years  ago wiped out 
> the
> wooly mammoth and early Native American cultures, according to  a soil 
> study
> released Thursday.
> The report in the journal Science focuses on tiny  "nanodiamonds," 
> crystals
> tied to past comet impacts, at six sites across the  continent in a soil 
> layer
> dated to the start of a 1,300-year-long ice age.
> Geologists and archaeologists have long argued about what  caused the
> extinction of dozens of large North American "megafauna" species,  such as
> saber-toothed cats and mammoths.
> "What we're reporting is consistent with a major cosmic  impact that had
> major consequences for the environment and Earth's climate,"  says study 
> leader
> Douglas Kennett of the University of Oregon in Eugene.
> "A swarm of comets" or carbon-rich meteorites either  delivered or created
> the nanodiamonds in a fiery impact, the study suggests. The  report relies 
> on
> photomicrograph analyses of soil samples from Arizona,  Minnesota, 
> Oklahoma,
> South Carolina and two Canadian sites. Photomicrography  captures images 
> seen
> through a microscope.
> "This is the 'smoking gun' evidence for a massive impact event  12,900 
> years
> ago that triggered the (ice age) and the extinction of the  megafauna," 
> says
> nuclear scientist Richard Firestone of the Lawrence Berkeley  (Calif.) 
> National
> Laboratory, who was not part of the study.
> If true, the impact date coincides with the abrupt halting  of deposits of
> "Clovis" Native American artifacts, distinctively fluted tools  and 
> arrowheads.
> Dozens of large animal species vanished then in North America.  Kennett 
> and
> other impact researchers have suggested a continent-wide wildfire  may 
> have
> contributed to the extinction of large North American creatures. In 
> Europe, there
> were disruptions to the prehistoric culture and the demise there  of 
> species
> such as the cave bear and Irish elk. "

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Materials for 'Earths' may be common in universe

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net

Interesting science stuff.

* Materials for "Earths" may be common in 
universe:
New findings suggest rocky planets are a normal
occurrence, astronomers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090105_planets


* Using light beams to grab molecules:
Researchers say they've created a trap that can
capture DNA molecules and other tiny objects.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090101_nanoscale


* Competition, not climate, killed Neanderthals: 
study
The stocky breed of early humans couldn't hold its
own against more modern populations, scientists claim.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081228_neanderthal


* Life grew in two, millionfold leaps, researchers 
report:
Earth's creatures come in all sizes, yet scientists
believe they all descend from the same single-celled
organisms.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081226_leaps


* Ancient African exodus mostly involved men, 
geneticists find
An ancient migration out of Africa is thought to
have led to most human populations outside the
continent.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/081221_exodus


* Still today, most will torture if ordered: study
Scientists say they have replicated an experiment in
which people would obediently give painful shocks to
others when prompted.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/081219_milgram






World Science homepage
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To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
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Re: [scifinoir2] Ricardo Montalban dies at 88

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
I was very fond of him.  He had an amazing career.

Subject: [scifinoir2] Ricardo Montalban dies at 88


> "He tasks me! He tasks me! And I shall have him. I'll chase him round
> the moons of Nibia and round the Antares malestrom and round
> perdition's flames before I give him up!" --Khan
>
> Ricardo Montalban dies at 88
>
> By BOB THOMAS, Associated Press
>
> Ricardo Montalban, the Mexican-born actor who became a star in
> splashy MGM musicals and later as the wish-fulfilling Mr. Roarke in
> TV's "Fantasy Island," died Wednesday morning at his home, a city
> councilman said. He was 88.
>
> Montalban's death was announced at a meeting of the city council by
> president Eric Garcetti, who represents the district where the actor
> lived. Garcetti did not give a cause of death.
>
> "The Ricardo Montalban Theatre in my Council District -- where the
> next generations of performers participate in plays, musicals, and
> concerts -- stands as a fitting tribute to this consummate
> performer," Garcetti said later in a written statement.
>
> Montalban had been a star in Mexican movies when MGM brought him to
> Hollywood in 1946. He was cast in the leading role opposite Esther
> Williams in "Fiesta." He also starred with the swimming beauty in "On
> an Island with You" and "Neptune's Daughter."
>
> A later generation knew Montalban as the faintly mysterious, white-
> suited Mr. Roarke, who presided over an island resort where visitors
> were able to fulfill their lifelong dreams. "Fantasy Island" received
> high ratings for most of its 1978-1984 span on ABC television and
> still appears in reruns.
>
> In a 1978 interview, he analyzed the series' success:
>
> "What is appealing is the idea of attaining the unattainable and
> learning from it. Once you obtain a fantasy it becomes a reality, and
> that reality is not as exciting as your fantasy. Through the
> fantasies you learn to appreciate your own realities."
>
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your SciFiNoir Profile at
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo!
>  
> Groups Links
>
>
>






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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: How 'puppydog eyes' do their trick

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Interesting science stuff.


* How "puppydog eyes" do their trick: 
it's chemistry
A so-called trust hormone may promote bonding
between members of different species, as well as
within a species, researchers say.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090113_dog-gaze.htm


* Black holes came first, astronomers conclude:
Scientists may have solved a cosmic chicken-and-egg
problem.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090106_blackholes


* Enforcer of conformity: our own brains
Although a grammatically challenged advertisement
exhorts us to "think different," group opinion
affects us powerfully.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090113_conformity


* Through DNA, breathing new life into museum 
pieces:
>From marsupials to manuscripts, researchers are
dusting off old specimens to learn their secrets
using genetics.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090112_museomics


* Climate-induced food crisis seen by 2100:
Barring drastic action, global warming could cripple
agriculture in hotter areas of the globe, a study
predicts.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090107_climate


* Our galaxy no longer "little sister":
Fasten your seat belts: our galaxy spins faster,
weighs more, and is more likely to collide than we
thought, researchers claim.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090106_milkyway







World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and 
cancel the old one.
Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
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along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
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Re: [scifinoir2] Re: I, Too, Sing America

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
You guys are all making really important points.
Thanks!
Peace,
Amy

Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: I, Too, Sing America


>I can only speak for myself but I was struck by the sea of American
> flags waving in unison for a number of reasons.  I stopped reciting
> the Pledge of Allegiance in the third grade, the same year my sister
> and I became the only children of African-American descent at the
> public grade school my mother somehow had managed to enroll us in.
>
> The city of Milwaukee had something called "intact busing" where they
> would take an entire class of black children from an overcrowded
> inner city school and bus them "intact" to a white school where they
> would have no contact with the white student body.  They would arrive
> after the white students were in class and be ushered to a classroom
> in the basement - then they would be escorted out of their basement
> classroom and back to their bus before the white children were
> excused for the day.  I would watch this daily spectacle from the
> window of my second floor classroom.  Henceforth, I would choke on
> the words "with liberty and justice for all."  Couldn't say it.
> Refused to say it.
>
> When George Foreman waved a tiny American flag when he won the gold
> medal, I thought, "sellout."  I was glad when Muhammad Ali knocked
> him out.
>
> In the movie "Rocky," when Apollo Creed came dancing into the ring
> wearing his red, white and blue trunks and his Uncle Sam hat, I
> thought, "you punk."
>
> When they play the national anthem at sporting events I attend, I
> never stand and I never remove my hat.
>
> Last night, when I went to see the Milwaukee Bucks annihilate the
> Dallas Mavericks (133-99), I didn't put my hand over my heart or
> remove my hat but I did stand in silence.  In respect.  In
> acknowledgement.
>
> ~rave!
>
> --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, keithbjohn...@... wrote:
>>
>> Well said. One slight correction though: it wasn't for the first
> time we were proud to be Americans; it was the first time we were
> *really* proud to be Americans. There's a difference. I think blacks
> have always loved this country, always been proud to be American, but
> been saddened and upset by how it's fallen short of its promises.
> It's like having a child that you love, that has so much potential,
> but hasn't yet found his or her course in life. I've even heard
> parents say, "I've always loved my son, always been proud of him, but
> i'm really really proud of him for the first time."
>>
>> Frankly, by dint of volunteering for the military, by playing by
> the rules, by raising our kids to worship a God and support a country
> into which we were frankly dragged in chains, I think black Americans
> can be said to have shown more genuine patriotism, more faith in this
> country, than any other group.  (Except perhaps Natives). I hope more
> people get that message, but there are always the doubters: witness
> Rush Limbaugh's "I hope Obama fails" rant.  Sigh...
>>
>> Again, well said.
>>  -- Original message --
>> From: "ravenadal" 
>> > I, Too, Sing America
>> >
>> > In the tapestry that was the throng blanketing the public
> concourse
>> > stretching from the Lincoln Memorial to the portico where
> President
>> > Barack Hussein Obama took the oath of office, I was struck by a
>> > strange and incongruous sight: a sea of black people waving tiny
>> > American flags.  What bizarro world was this?  Black people waving
>> > American flags?  Get the flux out of here!  And yet, there they
> were,
>> > waving their red, white and blue flags proudly, enthusiastically
> and
>> > full of the vigor of having obtained their full statehood rights.
>> > First Lady Michelle Obama was vilified for voicing an opinion
> similar
>> > to what these people were so obviously demonstrating: for the
> first
>> > time in their adult lives, they were proud to be Americans.
>> >
>> > ~rave!
>> >
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your SciFiNoir Profile at
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo!
>  
> Groups Links
>
>
>






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[scifinoir2] Fw: Imaro 3

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net

Subject: Imaro 3
Terrific heroic fantasy set in a parallel universe pre-colonial Africa, 3rd in 
the IMARO series, revised and expanded, is AVALAIBLE NOW!  
Go and enjoy!
Cheers!

  Hello, Amy ...

   Just dropping you a note to let you know that the third Imaro novel is 
finally out. Imaro: The Trail of Bohu is available from www.lulu.com.  After 
the debacle of 2007, when Night Shade pulled the plug, this feels really good.  
I'm hoping to have all the rest of the Imaro novels out this year.

   Optimistically,

   Charles 



Now with a new friend-happy design! Try the new Yahoo! Canada Messenger 






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[scifinoir2] It's snowing on Mars......article from Guardian.co.uk

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
 It's snowing on Mars..article from Guardian.co.uk

Wonderful stuff!


Fascinating article about Mars. It is snowing in the upper atmosphere of Mars.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/jan/27/mars-snow-space-technology-nasa

 

 

I have been fascinated about Mars since reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs John 
Carter of Mars books as a young teenager and of course Ray Bradbury's Martian 
Chronicles and many other books and stories about the mysterious Red Planet.

 

 

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Ill-fated ice man may have suffered two assaults

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Interesting science stuff.


TOP STORIES

* Ill-fated ice man may have suffered two 
assaults:
Scientists say they've revealed a new chapter in a
murder case some 5,300 years old.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090128_otzi


* When a stone lands in water:
Physicists are clarifying how one of nature's most
beautiful spectacles unfolds: the dance of a watery
surface hit by a falling stone.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090129_stone


* "Alarming" bone deterioration after long 
space flights:
Months spent in space may raise astronauts' risk for
fractures later in life, a study suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090127_astronaut


* Mightier sperm in "cuckolded" species:
Where infidelity prevails, sperm evolve to be faster
and bigger to cope with the competition, researchers
claim.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090126_sperm


MORE NEWS:

* Schizophrenia reassessed as fixation on self:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090123_schizophrenia

* Micro-motors would fit to swim human arteries:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090120_microbots

* "Cannibalism" creates huge stars:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090118_stragglers

* Makings of a deadly brown cloud:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090122_brownclouds

* Evidence of ancient chemical warfare reported:
http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090116_chemical






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
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Invite friends to join World Science!
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[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Fossil snake said to break length record

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff.


* Fossil snake said to break length record:
An ancient South American snake that might make
today's feared anacondas seem almost cuddly is 
renewing discussion on why giant species evolve.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090204_titanoboa


* Like Earth, if you overlook the lava 
everywhere?:
A European satellite has revealed a planet only
twice as large as Earth orbiting a distant star,
astronomers say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090204_exo-7b


* Insulin may help treat Alzheimer's:
Scientists are reporting that a substance commonly
used to treat diabetes may also protect against
the devastating memory-robbing illness.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090202_alzheimers


* Chemical found to trigger locust swarming:
A common brain chemical in humans also sparks the
Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation of desert locusts,
scientists report.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090130_locust





World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
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scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
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leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
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"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
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08:24:00

Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Texas Congressman Looks to Taliban for Ways to Oppose Dems

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  Me too - I could just puke!


  My Lord, just when I think they can't sink any lower. How is it that some 
people can condemn a man for not wearing a flag pin, or a woman for tearfully 
saying she's really truly proud of this country for the first time, yet spew 
such hatred and vitriol? I've listened to McCain/Palin try to call Obama a 
terrorist, a Muslim, and a socialist...I've suffered through that bigot 
Limbaugh uttering his "I hope he fails" statement (something that would have 
gotten a Dem pilloried for uttering)...I've watched as Boehner and his cronies 
have been combative and disrespectful from day one. 
  How the hell can people who recently called those of us who opposed the Iraqi 
invasion "traitor", who deemed every move by Bush something from the will of 
God, who couched the entire Middle East conflict in terms of Good and Evil, 
allow this kind of talk. The hypocricy and malice behind these people makes me 
ill...

  
  [ The Dallas Morning News - February 6, 2009]
  Sessions' call for GOP 'insurgency' draws fire 
  12:00 AM CST on Friday, February 6, 2009
  By LAURA ISENSEE / The Dallas Morning News 
  lisen...@dallasnews.com 
  WASHINGTON – The Republicans are taking a page from the Taliban's book. So 
says one of their own leaders. 

  Dallas Rep. Pete Sessions, the leader of the GOP's House campaign arm, 
compared the party to the terrorist-supporting Afghan group in an interview 
with the Hotline, a Washington political newsletter. He was trying to describe 
the Republicans' strategy for the 2010 midterm elections. 





  "Insurgency, we understand perhaps a little bit more because of the Taliban," 
Sessions said during the 60-minute sitdown. "And that is that they went about 
systematically understanding how to disrupt and change a person's entire 
processes." 





  He continued: "I'm not trying to say the Republican Party is the Taliban. ... 
I'm saying an example of how you go about [it] is to change a person from their 
messaging to their operations to their frontline message. And we need to 
understand that insurgency may be required when the other side, the House 
leadership, does not follow the same commands, which we entered the game with." 





  Neither Sessions' congressional office or the GOP House campaign committee 
offered any immediate comment. Sessions' Democratic counterpart called the 
comments "shocking." 

  "Sessions should put partisanship aside and join our fight to urgently turn 
our economy around and get Americans working again," Rep. Chris Van Hollen of 
Maryland said in a written statement. 

  In the past, comparisons of conservative Republicans to the Islamic 
fundamentalist Taliban have sparked outrage. It may be a first, though, for a 
politician to invoke the comparison on his own colleagues. 

  But Sessions has been known to get a little carried away in taking on the 
other party, too. Last fall at a GOP rally, the congressman taunted a noisy 
Democratic interloper: "Aren't you glad your mommy and daddy take care of you? 
You couldn't hold a job if you had to." 




  


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07:20:00

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: Cracking the code of the common cold

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Cool science stuff.


* Researchers cracking code of the cold:
With new genetic insights, scientists say a cure
may be on the horizon for the common cold.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090212_rhinovirus


* In early humans, "jaws of steel":
Nut-cracking abilities in our distant ancestors let
them adapt to changing circumstances, a study
suggests.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090211_africanus


* "Longevity gene" may boost lifespan:
A variation in a gene called FOXO3A seems to
increase human life expectancy in populations
worldwide, scientists report.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090211_fox03a.htm


* "Birthplace" of Zeus found?:
Mounting evidence supports a legend linking the king
of Greek gods to Mt. Lykaion in Greece,
archaeologists say.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090209_zeus


* Wolf in dog's clothing? Study points to twist in 
fur color:
Although dogs descend from wolves, dogs may have
passed a helpful genetic mutation back to some wolves.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090206_wolf


* Stem cell recipe gets even simpler:
One chemical can convert cells from adult mice into
the powerful embryonic-like stem cells needed in
medicine, biologists report.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090205_cells






World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
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Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
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17:44:00

[scifinoir2] Talk about Pollution!

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
>
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090213/ap_on_sc/eu_satellite_collision
>
>
>> Folks:
>>
>> Here is an article with statistics on the polluted condition in 
>> near-Earth
>> orbit.
>>
>> If you're writing anything about near-space, you need to read this
>> article.
>> If you're not writing, you can just deplore loudly the way humans behave
>> when it comes to garbage.

Re: [scifinoir2] Re: Wonderful media site

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  Excellent.  Bookmarked the site.  Thanks,
  Amy

  --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Maurice C. Jennings"
   wrote:
  >
  > 
  > Instant newspapers from around the world!
  > 
  > http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/
  > 
  > One of the most useful sites I have found. First select an area of
  the world
  > from the horizontal global menu. Then put your mouse on a city
  anywhere in
  > the region or nation and the newspaper headlines pop up. Double
  click and
  > the page gets larger and then you can click on the website to go
  directly to
  > the newspaper.
  >





  


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18:29:00

[scifinoir2] Trillions of Planets Could Be Supporting Life

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
 Trillions of Planets Could Be Supporting Life


> Folks:
>
> Here's an article that supports the Star Trek view of the Universe. 
> Diversity.
>
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/science/article5739563.ece
>

[scifinoir2] FW: Open Letter to the NY Post from John Legend

[Amy Harlib]

Message
ahar...@earthlink.net
  Eloquently said!
 

   
 
   
 
  MORE NEWS | MOBILE | PHOTOS | EVENTS | MYSPACE | 
 
   
 

  LATEST NEWS FROM JOHN LEGEND
  

  Open Letter to the New York Post

  Dear Editor:

  I'm trying to understand what possible motivation you 
may have had for publishing that vile cartoon depicting the shooting of the 
chimpanzee that went crazy.  I guess you thought it would be funny to suggest 
that whomever was responsible for writing the Economic Recovery legislation 
must have the intelligence and judgment of a deranged, violent chimpanzee, and 
should be shot to protect the larger community.  Really?  Did it occur to you 
that this suggestion would imply a connection between President Barack Obama 
and the deranged chimpanzee?  Did it occur to you that our President has been 
receiving death threats since early in his candidacy?  Did it occur to you that 
blacks have historically been compared to various apes as a way of racist 
insult and mockery?  Did you intend to invoke these painful themes when you 
printed the cartoon?  

  If that's not what you intended, then it was stupid 
and willfully ignorant of you not to connect these easily connectable dots.  If 
it is what you intended, then you obviously wanted to be grossly provocative, 
racist and offensive to the sensibilities of most reasonable Americans.  Either 
way, you should not have printed this cartoon, and the fact that you did is 
truly reprehensible.  I can't imagine what possible justification you have for 
this.  I've read your lame statement in response to the outrage you provoked.  
Shame on you for dodging the real issue and then using the letter as an 
opportunity to attack Rev. Sharpton.  This is not about Rev. Sharpton.  It's 
about the cartoon being blatantly racist and offensive.

  I believe in freedom of speech, and you have every 
right to print what you want.  But freedom of speech still comes with 
responsibilities and consequences.  You are responsible for printing this 
cartoon, and I hope you experience some real consequences for it.  I'm 
personally boycotting your paper and won't do any interviews with any of your 
reporters, and I encourage all of my colleagues in the entertainment business 
to do so as well.  I implore your advertisers to seriously reconsider their 
business relationships with you as well.

  You should print an apology in your paper 
acknowledging that this cartoon was ignorant, offensive and racist and should 
not have been printed. 

  I'm well aware of our country's history of racism and 
violence, but I truly believe we are better than this filth.  As we attempt to 
rise above our difficult past and look toward a better future, we don't need 
the New York Post to resurrect the images of Jim Crow to deride the new 
administration and put black folks in our place.  Please feel free to criticize 
and honestly evaluate our new President, but do so without the incendiary 
images and rhetoric.

  Sincerely,
  John Legend



  DOWNLOAD EVOLVER HERE:
  iTunes | Amazon | Rhapsody | Napster | Zune 

   

  Visit johnlegend.com for more news. 
 
   EVOLVER
  Order from: 
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  Check out JOHN LEGEND's bio here! 
 
   
 
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This email was sent to dbjeff...@hotmail.com 
   
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COLUMBIA and the Columbia "Wal

[scifinoir2] Fw: World Science: The psychology behind suicide attacks

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Interesting science stuff.

Subject: World Science: The psychology behind suicide attacks


* Richest biological zones found to suffer most 
wars:
More than four in five wars in recent times arose in
areas identified as the most biologically diverse, a
study indicates.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090221_war


* "Green Comet" visits neighborhood:
As­tro­no­mers are keep­ing a close eye on a green­ish 
com­et fast ap­proach­ing Earth's vicin­ity.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090220_lulin


* Collective rituals spur support for suicide
attacks: researchers:
A new study proposes that acts of war by self-
destruction are part of a larger psychological
phenomenon.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090219_suicide


* Running hamsters, tapping fingers tapped for 
energy:
A rodent may be doing its own small part to provide
a renewable electricity source.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090217_energy


* Cosmologists aim to reveal time's first moments:
Scientists want to test whether random, microscopic
fluctuations in the fabric of space and time spawned
the universe.

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/090216_origins


* HIV gene therapy trial results seen as positive:
A new treatment appeared to safely boost the number
of immune system cells of a type normally attacked 
by HIV, according to researchers.

http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/090215_oz1







World Science homepage
Don't forget to visit our homepage for Science In
Images; links to top science news from other publi-
cations; and other recent World Science stories!

http://www.world-science.net


World Science archives
To new readers especially: you need not miss our ex-
citing past stories, though they won't appear in future
newsletters. See archives for any year by typing that 
year after the homepage address: for example, 

http://www.world-science.net/2007 


Invite friends to join World Science!
Click here to open an invitation email you can send 
friends and colleagues so they can join you in sub-
scribing to World Science at no charge. Feel free to 
change the email text (although you might want to 
leave the subscription instructions unchanged.)


More information 
This is the World Science newsletter. To cancel your 
subscription, please reply to this email address with
"cancel" in the subject line. To subscribe, write to 
this email address with "subscribe" in the subject 
line. To change the address where you receive the 
newsletter, simply subscribe the new address and 
cancel the old one.
Any World Science article may be reproduced on 
another website, on condition that it is reproduced 
along with a link to the World Science homepage, 
http://www.world-science.net. Linking to the page of 
the original article is optional.









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15:36:00

Re: [scifinoir2] New California Gold Rush? Tax proposal on Marijuana

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
  Progressives have been clamoring for the decriminilization and taxation of 
pot for years.
  Amy


  New California Gold Rush?  Tax proposal on Marijuana 
  by frog belly white 
  Mon Feb 23, 2009 at 11:53:53 AM PST
  As everyone knows the state of California is knee deep in debt and the 
outlook doesn't look very promising for the future to get their economy jump 
started even with the stimulus bill being passed.  Finally a state assemblyman 
had a lightbulb moment to make some money on the biggest cash crop going that 
doesn't get taxed -- pot.

a.. frog belly white's diary :: :: 
b..   
  Taxing marijuana to raise revenue for your state, it almost sounds like a no 
brainer but California will be the first state in the country to tackle this.  
According to the news story that ran this morning  at 
  NORML this idea has caught fire with the California State Assembly.  The 
estimate of the amount of revenue raised is close to one billion dollars a year.

  California is just such a trend setting state and even though I live in 
Arizona this idea if it worked would spread like wildfire through the rest of 
the  nation.  This is the biggest news story of the year about marijuana reform 
and taxing it would not interfere with the medical marijuana laws since they 
are totally different issues.

  Here in Arizona we are gearing up for a medical cannabis initiative to go on 
the ballot for 2010 so things are just moving along.

  So what does everyone think about this turn of events?  It's almost too good 
to be true since this has been a hot topic at DailyKos for months.

   

   




  


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18:22:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
www.democracynow.org - best indy journalism program out there, covered this.
Peace,
Amy

Subject: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT


>
> This is way way way OT but a great man has passed and I felt it should be 
> noted.
>
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400685_obitrobideau20.html
>
> American Indian activist Robideau dies at 61
>
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> PORTLAND, Ore. -- Robert Robideau, an American Indian activist who was 
> acquitted of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout in South Dakota, 
> has died. He was 61.
>
> Robideau had been living in Barcelona, Spain, where authorities said that 
> his death Tuesday may have been related to seizures caused by shrapnel 
> left in his head from an accidental explosion.
>
> Robideau, a Portland native, was the cousin of Leonard Peltier and a 
> member of the American Indian Movement who had occupied the reservation 
> town of Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973, two years before the 
> shootout.
>
> His son, Michael, told The Oregonian that Robideau attended Roosevelt High 
> School and received a degree in cultural anthropology from Portland State 
> University.
>
> The newspaper said that Robideau left for South Dakota in the early 1970s 
> with several family members, including Peltier, to join AIM and its 
> protests against poverty and corruption on tribal reservations.
>
> In June 1975, two FBI agents followed a man wanted in the theft of a pair 
> of cowboy boots onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The agents soon 
> came under heavy rifle fire and were killed.
>
> The FBI identified Peltier as a suspect in the shooting and placed him on 
> their most wanted list.
>
> Months later, Robideau was driving Peltier's station wagon through Kansas 
> with other AIM members when ammunition in the car accidentally exploded.
>
> Robideau, who was seriously injured, was arrested and tried for the FBI 
> agent killings, but was acquitted.
>
> Peltier was arrested by Oregon State Police troopers while driving through 
> Oregon and later convicted of the FBI shootings. He is serving two life 
> sentences.
>
> Robideau appeared in "Incident at Oglala," the 1992 documentary about the 
> Pine Ridge shootings narrated by actor Robert Redford and directed by 
> Michael Apted.
>
> Robideau later became a painter, concentrating on tribal themes. He led a 
> committee seeking a pardon for Peltier and served as director of the 
> American Indian Movement Museum in Barcelona, which displayed some of his 
> paintings.
>
> He is survived by his wife, Pilar of Barcelona, Spain; and sons, Michael 
> of Portland and Bobby of South Dakota.
>
>
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your SciFiNoir Profile at
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo!
>  
> Groups Links
>
>
>






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Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.3/1969 - Release Date: 02/24/09 
06:43:00

Re: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
www.democracynow.org - best indy journalism program out there, covered this.
Peace,
Amy

Subject: [scifinoir2] Bob Robideau has Passed Away. OT


>
> This is way way way OT but a great man has passed and I felt it should be 
> noted.
>
> http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/400685_obitrobideau20.html
>
> American Indian activist Robideau dies at 61
>
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> PORTLAND, Ore. -- Robert Robideau, an American Indian activist who was 
> acquitted of killing two FBI agents in a 1975 shootout in South Dakota, 
> has died. He was 61.
>
> Robideau had been living in Barcelona, Spain, where authorities said that 
> his death Tuesday may have been related to seizures caused by shrapnel 
> left in his head from an accidental explosion.
>
> Robideau, a Portland native, was the cousin of Leonard Peltier and a 
> member of the American Indian Movement who had occupied the reservation 
> town of Wounded Knee, S.D., for 71 days in 1973, two years before the 
> shootout.
>
> His son, Michael, told The Oregonian that Robideau attended Roosevelt High 
> School and received a degree in cultural anthropology from Portland State 
> University.
>
> The newspaper said that Robideau left for South Dakota in the early 1970s 
> with several family members, including Peltier, to join AIM and its 
> protests against poverty and corruption on tribal reservations.
>
> In June 1975, two FBI agents followed a man wanted in the theft of a pair 
> of cowboy boots onto the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The agents soon 
> came under heavy rifle fire and were killed.
>
> The FBI identified Peltier as a suspect in the shooting and placed him on 
> their most wanted list.
>
> Months later, Robideau was driving Peltier's station wagon through Kansas 
> with other AIM members when ammunition in the car accidentally exploded.
>
> Robideau, who was seriously injured, was arrested and tried for the FBI 
> agent killings, but was acquitted.
>
> Peltier was arrested by Oregon State Police troopers while driving through 
> Oregon and later convicted of the FBI shootings. He is serving two life 
> sentences.
>
> Robideau appeared in "Incident at Oglala," the 1992 documentary about the 
> Pine Ridge shootings narrated by actor Robert Redford and directed by 
> Michael Apted.
>
> Robideau later became a painter, concentrating on tribal themes. He led a 
> committee seeking a pardon for Peltier and served as director of the 
> American Indian Movement Museum in Barcelona, which displayed some of his 
> paintings.
>
> He is survived by his wife, Pilar of Barcelona, Spain; and sons, Michael 
> of Portland and Bobby of South Dakota.
>
>
>
>
>
> 
>
> Post your SciFiNoir Profile at
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/app/peoplemap2/entry/add?fmvn=mapYahoo!
>  
> Groups Links
>
>
>






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Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.3/1969 - Release Date: 02/24/09 
06:43:00

[scifinoir2] Philip José Farmer dies

[Amy Harlib]

ahar...@earthlink.net
Philip José Farmer dies


A real shame.



Author Philip José Farmer Dies
(http://sfscope.com/2009/02/author-philip-jos-farmer-dies.html)

By Ian Randal Strock
February 25, 2009

Philip José Farmer's web site reports the death of the author
peacefully in his sleep in the morning of 25 February 2009. Born 26
January 1918 in Terre Haute, Indiana, Farmer won three Hugo Awards
(Most Promising New Talent, 1953; Best Novella ["Riders of the Purple
Wage"], 1968; and Best Novel [To Your Scattered Bodies Go], 1972), the
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America's Grand Master Award
(2001), and the World Fantasy Award's Lifetime Achievement Award
(2001).

Farmer's first short story, "O'Brien and Obrenov", appeared in
Adventure in March 1946. In 1950, after a twelve-year hiatus (and a
break to wash out of the Army Air Corps flight training program), he
received his BA in English from Bradley University. In August 1952,
Startling Stories published his first science fiction story, "The
Lovers".

Farmer's first published novel was The Green Odyssey, which Ballantine
released in 1957. In 1953, however, Farmer's I Owe for the Flesh won
the Shasta prize novel contest. And though the prize was never paid,
the book was the first in what would become his iconic Riverworld
series. That series posits that "everyone who has ever lived on Earth,
from cavemen to 1984, is resurrected along the banks of a million mile
long river. A character dying along the river simply wakes up
somewhere else the next day." In these stories, Farmer has characters
from any point in history meeting, interacting, and frequently
fighting.

Farmer also wrote the Dayworld series, in which overpopulation
requires that people be placed in suspended animation for six days out
of seven, each living but one day, and sharing their homes, jobs, and
lives with six other people. Then, of course, there are daybreakers,
who live different lives each day of the week. And his World of Tiers
series introduced the idea of Pocket Universes, which have different
physical laws.

In the 1970s, when Farmer was suffering from writer's block, he turned
his efforts to writing other people's novels; specifically, he wrote
Venus on the Half-Shell by Kurt Vonnegut's fictional Kilgore Trout. He
also wrote as Ralph vvon Wau Wau, who came to life on his own when
Spider Robinson had him appear in Callahan's Bar.

Farmer is survived by his wife, Bette (whom he married in 1941), as
well as children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

1216007614

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Okay, you guys have changed my mind.  Guess I'll go see this after all.
Cheers!
Amy

Subject: [scifinoir2] Re: Negative Stereotypes R US (IN CLASS WITH HANCOCK)


> My baby girl, who I had not seen in three weeks (she was away at
> college camp), asked me to take her to see HANCOCK and, while I was
> less than enthusiastic, I agreed (I am just glad she didn't ask for a
> car cause I was so happy to see her I would have bought one!).
>
> I have to agree with both Daryle (the movie IS one of the best
> superhero movies of all time - in many ways deeper and more resonant
> than IRON MAN) and Marian (on the Isis and Osiris tip).  I thoroughly
> enjoyed the movie.  Director Peter Berg delivers much of the promise
> of earlier fare such as RUNDOWN (one of my guilty pleasures).
>
> Charlize Theron, who has never sold me a movie ticket, is stunning in
> this film.  She is so good she makes me wish Berg had directed AEON
> FLUX.  At 6 feet tall and buff, she is a perfect "twin" for Smith.
>
> I think Dr. Agozino is WAY off the mark on this one.  The good doctor
> needs to take a chill pill.
>
> ~rave!
>
> --- In scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com, "Lockhart, Daryle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> 
> wrote:
>>
>> Okay, I have just seen this movie last night. This was hands down
> one of
>> the best written, designed, cast, and acted superhero movies of all
> time.
>> The only thing that would have made this better for me would be a
> script
>> by Grant Morrison or Warren Ellis. (This would have guaranteed even
> MORE
>> drinking, to be sure) I think that Will was the perfect choice for
> this
>> character. I have read the reviews this morning. In my opinion, the
>> negative ones have been completely off the mark. Some of the
> negative ones
>> have been from people I totally respect, but there seems to be an age
>> thing going on, which is odd. The reviews read like people who have
> seen
>> the trailer and not the entire picture.
>>
>>
>> S
>>
>>
>> P
>>
>>
>> O
>>
>>
>> I
>>
>>
>> L
>>
>>
>> E
>>
>>
>> R
>>
>>
>> S
>>
>>
>> Hancock was NOT an alcoholic. Hancock was NOT homeless. He was
> ABANDONDED.
>> Left to think he was alone. He was doing things with powers with no
>> knowledge of his purpose. This is a PERFECT movie to take young
> Black male
>> children to. I have also read the criticisms of how it took a white
> man to
>> get him to see his purpose. ALSO incorrect. Hancock and Ray needed
> each
>> other. Ray was a washed up publicist with a dream to save the world.
>> Hancock put him on track. Gave him something tangiable to focus on.
> I have
>> also read the MANY MANY people who have issue with Hancock going to
> jail.
>> Again, people seem to have been watching the pictures moving but not
> what
>> was going on. Hancock going to jail was totally symolic. He was
> smashing
>> through Los Angeles with no regard to the damage he was causing. This
>> isn't Reed Richards or Bruce Wayne who can pay for this with no
> problem,
>> this is a dude with no idea where he's from. No job. His 'fortress of
>> solitude' is a trailer.
>>
>> Next up, the whole 'white woman' issue. I think this is where
> casting was
>> done particularly well. If these are two immortal people with
> powers, they
>> have been around long before there was a United States. And so
> wouldn't it
>> make sense that an African woman and African man would be the
> surviving
>> ones? This isn't Uma Thurman, this is a woman born in Johannesburg.
> Would
>> the STORY have been better if this were Nona Gaye instead of Charlize
>> Theron? I'm actually not sure. I loves me some Nona, but wouldn't the
>> criticism have been "Why did the Black woman have to dump him and
> leave
>> him at the hospital like that?" Additionally, we don't know enough
> about
>> these characters to assume that they have always been the race that
> they
>> appear to be. I think the casting was progressive Hollywood. If we
> want
>> two immortal Black people, we should make "Wild Seed".
>>
>> It's been really disappointing that "Iron Man" has gotten deeper
> reviews
>> and better  character analysis than "Hancock". It's probably why Black
>> actors don't take/get offered roles like this often.
>>
>> Daryle
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:35:04 -0400, ravenadal <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>> > (from BlackScienceFictionandHorror listserv):
>> >
>> > IN CLASS WITH HANCOCK
>> >
>> > By Biko Agozino
>> >
>> > I have just seen the box office hit movie, Hancock, with my two
>> > teenage sons and their 12 year old cousin. As usual, after seeing a
>> > movie with the kids, we engaged in debates about the representations
>> > and subtle messages in the movie. I asked the young men if they
>> > liked the film and they all agreed that it was a great film. I asked
>> > them what they liked about it and they said that Will Smith was the
>> > greatest superhero ever. Then they asked me if I liked the movie and
>> > I said no that I did not. Why not? They all asked in unison.
>> >
>> > I a

[scifinoir2] Life's Raw Materials May Have Come From The Stars, Scientists Confirm

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Confirms an idea found in many SF stories.

Life's Raw Materials May Have Come From The Stars, Scientists Confirm


URL to an interesting article in ScienceDaily News
_http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613092514.htm_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080613092514.htm)

I know that at least 20 years ago Fred Hoyle wrote a book called Lifecloud
about detecting amino acids in interstellar gas clouds, and other authors 
have
used the idea of planets being seeded by life from interstellar clouds,
comets  and meteors

First few paragraphs
"ScienceDaily (Jun. 13, 2008) — Scientists have  confirmed for the first 
time
that an important component of early genetic  material which has been found
in meteorite fragments is extraterrestrial in  origin, in a paper published 
on
15 June 2008.

 (http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/)
*   The finding suggests that parts of the raw materials to make the
first  molecules of DNA and RNA may have come from the stars.

The scientists, from Europe and the USA, say that their research provides
evidence that life’s raw materials came from sources beyond the Earth.
The materials they have found include the molecules uracil and xanthine,
which are precursors to the molecules that make up DNA and RNA, and are 
known as
nucleobases.
The team discovered the molecules in rock fragments of the Murchison
meteorite, which crashed in Australia in 1969.
They tested the meteorite material to determine whether the molecules came
from the solar system or were a result of contamination when the meteorite
landed on Earth.
The analysis shows that the nucleobases contain a heavy form of carbon which
could only have been formed in space. Materials formed on Earth consist of a
lighter variety of carbon."
Chris



**Vote for your city's best dining and nightlife. City's Best
2008.  (http://citysbest.aol.com?ncid=aolacg0005000102)


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Yahoo! Groups Links









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[scifinoir2] Brightest star in Galaxy has competition

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cool science stuff.

Brightest star in Galaxy has competition


URL to an interesting article in Science Daily News
_http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715131623.htm_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080715131623.htm)

I wonder how close a star could be to one of these monsters before the
radiation would make it impossible for life to form - 10 ly, 100ly?  I know 
that
when it blows up it will sterilize nearby systems, but what about during 
its
normal lifespan?

First few paragraphs
"
ScienceDaily (July 15, 2008) — A contender  for the title of brightest star
in our Milky Way galaxy has been unearthed in  the dusty metropolis of the
galaxy's center.


 See also:
_Space &  Time_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/)
*   _Stars_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/stars/)
*   _Nebulae_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/nebulae/)
*   _Astronomy_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/astronomy/)

*   _Galaxies_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/galaxies/)
*   _Extrasolar Planets_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/extrasolar_planets/)
*   _Astrophysics_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/astrophysics/)
_Reference_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/)
*   _Supergiant_ (http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/supergiant.htm)

*   _Star  cluster_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/s/star_cluster.htm)
*   _Orion  Nebula_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/o/orion_nebula.htm)
*   _Cepheid  variable_
(http://www.sciencedaily.com/articles/c/cepheid_variable.htm)

Nicknamed the "Peony nebula star," the bright stellar bulb was revealed by
NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and other ground-based telescopes. It blazes
with  the light of an estimated 3.2 million suns.
The reigning "brightest star" champion is Eta Carina, with a whopping solar
wattage of 4.7 million suns. But according to astronomers, it's hard to pin
down  an exact brightness, or luminosity, for these scorching stars, so they
could  potentially shine with a similar amount of light.
"The Peony nebula star is a fascinating creature. It appears to be the
second-brightest star that we now know of in the galaxy, and it's located 
deep
into the galaxy's center," said Lidia Oskinova of Potsdam University in 
Germany.
"There are probably other stars just as bright if not brighter in our galaxy
that remain hidden from view." Oskinova is principal investigator for the
research and second author of a paper appearing in a future issue of the 
journal
 Astronomy and Astrophysics.
Scientists already knew about the Peony nebula star, but because of its
sheltered location in the dusty central hub of our galaxy, its extreme 
luminosity
was not revealed until now. Spitzer's dust-piercing infrared eyes can  see
straight into the heart of our galaxy, into regions impenetrable by visible
light. Likewise, infrared data from the European Southern Observatory's New
Technology Telescope in Chile were integral in calculating the Peony nebula
star's luminosity.
"Infrared astronomy opens extraordinary views into the environment of the
central region of our galaxy," said Oskinova.
The brightest stars in the universe are also the biggest. Astronomers
estimate the Peony nebula star kicked off its life with a hefty mass of 
roughly  150
to 200 times that of our sun. Stars this massive are rare and puzzle
astronomers because they push the limits required for stars to form. Theory 
predicts
that if a star starts out too massive, it can't hold itself together  and
must break into a double or multiple stars instead.
Not only is the Peony nebula star hefty, it also has a wide girth. It is a
type of giant blue star called a Wolf-Rayet star, with a diameter roughly 
100
times that of our sun. That means this star, if placed where our sun is, 
would
 extend out to about the orbit of Mercury.
With so much mass, the star barely keeps itself together. It sheds an
enormous amount of stellar matter in the form of strong winds over its 
relatively
short lifetime of a few million years. This matter is pushed so hard  by 
strong
radiation from the star that the winds speed up to about 1.6 million
kilometers per hour (one million miles per hour) in only a few hours.
Ultimately, the Peony nebula star will blow up in a fantastic explosion of
cosmic proportions called a supernova. In fact, Oskinova and her colleagues 
say
 that the star is ripe for exploding soon, which in astronomical terms mean
anytime from now to millions of years from now.
"When this star blows up, it will evaporate any planets orbiting stars in 
the
 vicinity," said Oskinova. "Farther out from the star, the explosion could
actually trigger the birth of new stars."
In addition to the star itself, the astronomers noted a cloud of dust and
gas, called a nebula, surrounding the star. The team nicknamed this cloud 
the
Peony nebula because it resemb

[scifinoir2] Fw: Open letter to Sen. Barack Obama from Bob Petrusak

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subject: Re: Open letter to Sen. Barack Obama from Bob Petrusak


Eloquently written, historically correct and reflective of the perception they 
must of experience and necessity hold.  Well done.  

July 15, 2008  

  Dear Senator Obama:

  With Israel rehearsing an attack on Iran and the Bush administration 
considering the alternative of a low-level diplomatic mission in Tehran, it is 
necessary to revisit your June 4th speech to the AIPAC convention in 
Washington.  In that address, you denounced the Iraq War as a conflict which  
strengthened Iran and asserted that Iran has  always constituted a greater 
threat to Israel than Iraq.  You stated that Iran now constitutes the greatest 
challenge  in the region. You even asserted that Iran is part of a "tyranny of  
oil" in which the high price of oil is "one of the most dangerous weapons in 
the world" because petro-dollars abet the killing of Israeli civilians and 
American soldiers.  In so doing, you are taking an easy road  to "toughness" on 
national security issues that still allows you to trumpet your opposition to a 
war that is now overwhelmingly unpopular.  This road may follow the footsteps 
of Woodrow Wilson and Lyndon Johnson,  Democratic Party candidates who talked 
peace only to lead our people deeper into war.  

  Your AIPAC speech represents a refusal to acknowledge the fundamental problem 
in American-Iranian relations. This is the fact that we are still dealing with 
the revolutionaries who overthrew the repressive Shah installed by the United 
States at the expense of an elected government. This nascent democracy led by 
Mohammed Mossadegh, struggled against a "tyranny of oil" very different from 
the one you constructed to inflame sentiment against Iran.   Your so-called 
"tyranny" wields a high-priced "weapon" forged through the wasteful consumption 
of its victims. The tyranny faced by Mossadegh involved a British 
multi-national, the forerunner of today's "British Petroleum,"  backed by every 
other major oil company on the planet.  This tyranny sought to perpetuate a 
concession system originally granted by a corrupt, foreign-influenced monarchy, 
which denied Iran's people a fair share of their most important resource.   
This tyranny would also include the British navy which helped enforce a 
world-wide boycott of Iranian oil, and our C.I.A. which orchestrated the 
violent military coup that overthrew Mossadegh in August, 1953.

   Apologists for the coup unabashedly claimed that it saved an unstable 
Mossadegh government from a Soviet takeover.  However, any alleged instability 
was the obvious result of a grossly unfair and patently illegal boycott of 
Iran's largest export.  Moreover,  the Soviets were in no position to attempt a 
takeover of Iran a few months after Stalin's death and in fact, Mossadegh's 
government was finding ways to  survive the boycott.   The coup thus stands as 
a very sordid "regime change" that crushed a secular Third World democracy 
which sought to reclaim national resources from a colonial arrangement.  
Similarly, the quarter-century from the 1953 coup to the 1978-79 Islamic 
Revolution saw U.S. support for the Shah's military and secret police and 
corrupt, multi-billion dollar arms deals which offset efforts by the Shah to 
look "tough" on Western oil companies.  In many Iranian eyes, the passage of 
these 25 years only aggravated the coup of '53.  

  For Iran, this was the second time within 42 years that a representative 
government had been destroyed by foreign intervention.  Iran's Constitutional 
Revolution begun in 1905,  had struggled to create a parliament, a free press 
and a rule of law to control a corrupt monarchy that sold national resources to 
foreign interests on generous terms. This struggle even produced an American 
hero, Howard Baskerville who died leading a Constitutionalist attack on 
Monarchist forces, and is still recognized as "the American Lafayette" in Iran. 
 Yet by 1911, British and Russian intervention had dispersed the parliament and 
restored monarchal despotism. The effective replay of these events in 1953 
would convince many Iranians that democracy, with its openness and freedom, 
could not maintain national independence against foreign intrigue.  Such 
feelings combined with an old feud between the clergy and the reinstalled, 
American-supported dynasty created perfect conditions for the growth of 
religious militancy. . 

   Such facts are essential to an understanding of the 1979-81 hostage crisis 
which was sparked by fear of yet another restoration of the monarchy.  I 
appreciate the horrific nature of kidnapping and hostage-taking and as an 
assistant state attorney general,  helped secure severe penalties for such 
crimes.  However, the quarter-century rule of the American-supported Shah would 
 also involve political executions and torture.  This repressive monarch became 
the cornerstone of American policy in the region and a 

[scifinoir2] Fw: The Nation, August 4/11 - "Noted" has advice for activists who support Obama's candidacy but want to press him on key issues.

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]

Subject: The Nation, August 4/11 - "Noted" has advice for activists who support 
Obama's candidacy but want to press him on key issues.


 I'm concerned about a number of recent shifts by Sen. Obama on: Iraq, Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Act, gun control, public-financing of campaigns, 
faith-based initiatives etc.  For discussion at Thursday's PDA Virginia 
meeting?  Here's a brief article in the Nation for  consideration. Moya 
FISA FIGHT-BACK: Many supporters of Barack Obama were outraged by his decision 
to back the recent White House surveillance bill (FISA), so they took over his 
website.To its credit, the Obama campaign runs the most open online platform of 
any major presidential candidate. Visitors may post criticism of the 
candidate--an act that was restricted on HillaryClinton.com--or use networking 
tools to build protest groups. Activists did just that by creating Please Vote 
NO on Telecom Immunity--Get FISA Right, which swiftly became the largest 
network on Obama's site, topping even the campaign's official groups. After 
whipping up the blogosphere, the group drew coverage from TheNation.com, 
newspapers and TV. 

Then Obama responded directly. In an unusually long online letter, Obama said 
he still opposed immunity but supported the bill to modernize surveillance 
oversight and pursue "accountability" via future investigations. Activists 
welcomed the reply but rejected the substance. Many are continuing the fight at 
a new hub, getfisaright.com, which organizes Obama supporters around civil 
liberties. A related coalition, accountabilitynowpac.com, is coordinating a 
fundraising drive on August 8, the anniversary of the announcement of Richard 
Nixon's resignation, to mobilize against the "key enablers of the tyrannical 
and lawless FISA 'compromise.'" 

If Obama is lucky, he'll continue to benefit from activists who support his 
candidacy but also intend to press him on key issues, using his campaign's 
tools to organize for causes beyond his election. The protest group replied to 
Obama's letter by heralding this collective dynamic. "As you have said time and 
again Senator, 'we are the ones we have been waiting for,' and we are here, 
working to bring about real change in Washington."   ARI MELBER 


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[scifinoir2] Solar systems like ours may be rare

[Amy Harlib]

[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Solar systems like ours may be rare


URL to an interesting article from MSNBC
_http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25784858/_
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25784858/)

First paragraphs
"
As  humans look farther into the universe and discover more and more planets
beyond  the sun, many wonder how typical our own solar system is. Often
astronomers in  the planet-hunting business say discoveries of Earth-like 
worlds are
just around  the corner.
But a new study indicates our setup may be rare  indeed.
A  group of astronomers surveyed sun-like stars in the Orion nebula open
cluster  and found that fewer than 10 percent have enough surrounding dust 
to make
 Jupiter-sized planets.







"We think that most stars in the galaxy are formed in  dense, Orion-like
regions, so this implies that systems like ours may be the  exception rather 
than
the rule," said researcher Joshua Eisner, an  astrophysicist at the 
University
of California, Berkeley.
That's important because giant planets like Jupiter may  be instrumental in
fostering life on rocky worlds like Earth.
Eisner and his team observed about 250 stars in the  million-year-old Orion
Nebula, looking for dense disks of dust surrounding the  stars that could be
forming planets. They found that only about 10 percent of  the stars emitted
radiation in the frequency that would indicate they have these 
proto-planetary
disks of warm dust. And only 8 percent of the stars surveyed had  dust disks
with masses greater than one-hundredth the mass of the sun, a mass  thought 
to
be the lower limit for formation of Jupiter-sized planets.
These findings seem to agree with what planet hunters are  finding so far
when they use radial velocity studies to detect extrasolar  planets around 
other
stars. (The radial velocity approach involves looking for a  wobble in a
star's motion caused by the slight gravitational pull of an orbiting 
planet.)
"The current numbers are suggesting 6 to 10 percent of  stars have
Jupiter-sized planets, which is exactly consistent with our  findings," 
Eisner told
SPACE.com.
The researchers will detail their findings in the Aug. 10  issue of the
Astrophysical Journal.
Snapshot in time
Still, it's too soon to completely despair of  finding the universe filled
with Jupiters around other suns.
Since the survey only looked at dust around the stars,  and would not have
detected any already-formed planets, it could be that some of  those 
sun-like
stars already had planets.

Slide  show
  (javascript:SSOpen('10913792','0');)  _Month in  Space_
(javascript:SSOpen('10913792','0');)
See highlights from the shuttle Discovery’s flight,  the Phoenix Mars Lander
mission and much more in June’s roundup of  cosmic pictures.
more  photos
"Perhaps  we're only detecting the stars that have not formed planets yet,"
said John M.  Carpenter, an astronomer at Caltech who worked with Eisner on 
the
Orion  research. "Perhaps some other stars already formed planets. It's only
a snapshot  in time and as you look at other clusters at different ages you
can build up a  better picture."
Other scientists agree there are many unanswered  questions about solar
systems beyond our own.
"As the precision with which we can measure improves, we  find more 
planets,"
said Harvard planet hunter David Charbonneau, who was not  involved in the
Orion study. "The rate of occurrence has gone up since we  started looking."
He  said it's too soon to tell for sure whether Earth's system is atypical,
but  studies that look at whether other stars have the raw materials 
necessary
to  form solar systems like our own can help.
"Certainly knowing that there is enough stuff around  stars to make planets
is a crucial step," he said."