Mystery of Mass Squid 'Suicides' Possibly Solved

Poisonous algae that form so-called red tides may be intoxicating Humboldt squid. Read more

Possible Cure Found for Deadliest Jellyfish Sting

The fearsome box jellyfish packs venom that is among the deadliest in the world, but a new treatment may take the sting out of its powerful poison. Read more

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The Daily Drift

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Today in History

1431		Henry VI of England is crowned King of France.
1653		Oliver Cromwell takes on dictatorial powers with the title of "Lord Protector."
1773		To protest the tax on tea from England, a group of young Americans, disguised as Indians, throw chests of tea from British ships in Boston Harbor.
1835		A fire in New York City destroys property estimated to be worth $20,000,000. It lasts two days, ravages 17 blocks, and destroys 674 buildings including the Stock Exchange, Merchants' Exchange, Post Office, and the South Dutch Church.
1863		Confederate General Joseph Johnston takes command of the Army of Tennessee.
1864		Union forces under General George H. Thomas win the battle at Nashville, smashing an entire Confederate army.
1930		In Spain, a general strike is called in support of the revolution.
1939		The National Women's Party urges immediate congressional action on equal rights.
1940		British troops carry out an air raid on Italian Somalia.
1944		Germany mounts a major offensive in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. As the center of the Allied line falls back, it creates a bulge, leading to the name–the Battle of the Bulge.
1949		Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung is received at the Kremlin in Moscow.
1950		President Harry Truman declares a state of National Emergency as Chinese communists invade deeper into South Korea.
1976		President Jimmy Carter appoints Andrew Young as Ambassador to the United Nations.
1978		Cleveland becomes the first U.S. city to default since the depression.
1998		The United States launches a missile attack on Iraq for failing to comply with United Nations weapons inspectors.

Non Sequitur

Celebrating Winter Solstice

A Powerful Moment of Annual Turning

In many cultures, traditions associated with the winter solstice on December 21—marking the longest night and shortest day of the year—spark celebrations. But with all the winter holiday to-dos and fewer daylight hours, this fun time of year can also be draining. Rituals can help us remember that life, like the sun, is cycling itself to rebound with strength. We can recognize the solstice as a powerful moment of annual turning by lighting a candle or burning a Yule log, in keeping with ancient traditions. It’s a time to seek warmth by surrounding ourselves with friends and family dear to our hearts. It’s a time to bring mistletoe, holly, ivy and piney evergreens home, gather around the table, laugh over shared stories, read poetry and renew our spirits with photographed memories of recent vacations.

Solstice brings a time of stillness and reflection. Placing seeds such as acorns into an offering bowl serves as a gentle reminder of nature’s empowering renewal of life through rebirth. Children will enjoy venturing outdoors to look at the stars through a telescope. Stargazing on a clear night is a humbling experience that can shift and lift our mood and perspective.

Xmas

Emperor Aurelian (270-275CE) blended a number of Pagan solstice celebrations of the nativity of such gods as Apollo, Attis, Baal, Dionysus, Helios, Hercules, Horus, Mithra, Osiris, Perseus, and Theseus into a single festival called Sol Invictus, the "Birthday of the Unconquered Sun" on December 25th. At the time, Mithraism and christianity were fierce competitors. Aurelian even declared Mithraism the official religion of the Roman Empire in 274 CE. christianity won out by becoming the new official religion in the 4th century CE.

The metaphor of the birth of the sun worked well for christians celebrating the birth of the son of god, who brings light to the world. christ's birth was first celebrated on January 6th, then moved in 336CE to December 25th. This change was not popular with everyone. The christians of Edessa accused the church in Rome of idolatry and "sun worship." Some biblical scholars believe that christ was actually born in the fall after the harvest or in spring after the birth of the new animals, both the most likely times for taxation. Shepherds don't 'tend their flocks by night' in the high pastures in the dead of winter. If one wishes to use the new testament as historical evidence, this reference may point to sometime in the spring as the time of jesus' birth. This is because the lambing season occurs in the spring and that is the most likely time when shepherds 'watched their flocks by night' -- to make sure the lambing went well. Knowing this, the Eastern half of the cult continued to reject December 25, preferring a 'movable date' fixed by their astrologers according to the moon.
In 563CE, the Council of Braga forbade fasting on Xmas Day, and four years later the Council of Tours proclaimed the twelve days from December 25 to Epiphany as a sacred, festive season. This last point is perhaps the hardest to impress upon the modern reader, who is lucky to get a single day off work. Xmas, in the Middle Ages, was not a single day, but rather a period of twelve days, from December 25 to January 6. The Twelve Days of Xmas, in fact.
Polydor Virgil, an early British christian, said "Dancing, masques, mummeries, stageplays, and other such Xmas disorders now in use with christians, were derived from these Roman Saturnalian and Bacchanalian festivals; which should cause all pious christians eternally to abominate them." In Massachusetts, puritans unsuccessfully tried to ban Xmas entirely during the 17th century, because of its heathenism. The English Parliament abolished Xmas in 1647 for a time. Some contemporary christian faith groups still do not celebrate Xmas.
Although Christmas Dec 25th is a major holiday in Ireland, it is not widely celebrated in Scotland. Some historians have suggested that the reason Xmas is downplayed in Scotland is because of the influence of the Presbyterian cult or Kirk, which viewed Xmas as a "papist", or catholic event. As a result, Xmas in Scotland tends to be a somber event, in direct contrast to the next Celtic festival, Hogmany, held on January 1. January 6 is the day of the feast of the Epiphany. It is called "Little Xmas" in Ireland, Nollaig Bheag in Gaelic. Little Xtmas, the Day of the Epiphany, is sacred as a celebration of god's manifestation to us in human form.

Symbolism

All symbols and practices associated with Xmas are of Pagan origin: holly, ivy, mistletoe, yule log, the giving of gifts, decorated evergreen tree, magical reindeer, and others.
In the Celtic language, Mistletoe means "All Heal". The ancient Celts believed Mistletoe possessed miraculous healing powers and held the soul of the host tree during the winter months. It was believed to have miraculous power of healing diseases, making poisons harmless, giving fertility to humans and animals, and as protection against evil spirits. Mistletoe was collected by the Druid in a very special ceremony held five days after the New Moon following winter solstice. The Druid priests would cut mistletoe from a holy oak tree with a golden sickle. The branches had to be caught before they touched the ground. The priest then divided the branches into many sprigs and distributed them to the people, who hung them over doorways as protection against thunder, lightning and other evils. In fact, it was considered so sacred that even enemies who happened to meet beneath a Mistletoe in the forest would lay down their arms, exchange a friendly greeting, and keep truce until the following day. From this old custom grew the practice of suspending Mistletoe over a doorway or in a room as a token of good will and peace. Mistletoe was one of the casualties of early christian celebrations, and for centuries it was forbidden to display the plant on christian altars. Mistletoe found its way back into acceptance as the Victorians revived the ancient ritual of kissing under the Mistletoe as a sign of love, romance and good luck.
"Here were kept up the old games of hoodman blind, shoe the wild mare, hot cockles, steal the white loaf, bob apple, and snap dragon; the Yule-clog and Xmas candle were regularly burnt, and the mistletoe with its white berries hung up, to the imminent peril of all the pretty housemaids."
So Washington Irving, in "Xmas Eve," relates the typical festivities surrounding the Twelve Days of Xtmas, including kissing under the mistletoe. To understand the full practice of kissing under the mistletoe, he adds a note.
"The mistletoe is still hung up in farm-houses and kitchens at Xmas, and the young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under it, plucking each time a berry from the bush. When the berries are all plucked the privilege ceases."
The folklore, and the magical powers of this plant, has blossomed over the centuries. A sprig placed in a baby's cradle would protect the child from faeries, as an example.
Today, Holly conjures up images of Xtmas wreaths, but actually had religious significance long before it's adoption by christianity. There are around 400 natural types of holly in the world, but the one people are most familiar with is Ilex aquifolium, or "English/Xmas Holly". It is a coniferous evergreen plant that can be found in many parts of the world. English holly grows best in moist soil in direct sunlight, but it can tolerate partial shade as well. Holly was important in Pagan/Druidic religion and customs. It was placed around dwellings during winter, intended as a kindly and hospitable gesture so that the fairies could come into their homes and use the holly as shelter against the cold. This may actually have had some basis in fact, as holly growing in the wild is often used as shelter by small animals, primarily insects. It was holly's evergreen nature that made it special. The Druids believed that it remained green to help keep the earth beautiful when the deciduous trees such as the sacred oak shed their leaves. The holly berries were thought to represent the sacred menstrual blood of their Goddess. In some rights, holly was used for protection, decorating doors and windows to ward off evil spirits before they could enter the house. As the British Isles began to convert to christianity, the early christians continued the tradition of decorating their home with holly. The significance of the berries changed so that they now symbolized the blood of christ and holly gradually solidified its position as a Xmas tradition.
The ceremonial Yule log was the highlight of the early winter festival. In accordance to tradition, the log must either have been harvested from the householder's land, or given as a gift. It must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed in the fireplace, it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or ale, and dusted with flour, perhaps even with a small outlined human figure before set ablaze by a piece of last year's log. The log would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days before being ceremonially put out. Ash is the traditional wood of the Yule log. It is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. An herb of the Sun, Ash brings light into the hearth at the Solstice.
For most of the modern christian world, the Xmas season is a time of joy, of family, of giving, of love, of peace. A time to celebrate the birth of love and forgiveness. A time to celebrate the birth of their Lord.
Whether you are christian, wiccan or pagan, look to the Yule as a period of enlightenment and renewal of spirit.

'Jedi' Is Most Popular Alt Faith

The Force seems to be with 176,632 people in England and Wales. Read more

A Wise Man’s Gift for Arthritis Sufferers

An Age-old Herbal Remedy

Frankincense, an aromatic resin obtained from Boswellia trees native to Africa, is an age-old herbal remedy that may help alleviate the pain of arthritis, according to scientists at Cardiff University, in Wales. “The search for new ways of relieving the symptoms of inflammatory arthritis and osteoarthritis is a long and difficult one,” says Dr. Emma Blain, who led the research with coinvestigators Professor Vic Duance, from Cardiff University’s School of Biosciences, and Dr. Ahmed Ali, of the Compton Group. The team believes they have been able to demonstrate that treatment with an extract of Boswellia frereana—a rare frankincense species—inhibits the production of key inflammatory molecules and helps prevent the breakdown of cartilage tissue that causes the condition.
The African Somali people have long used extracts of frankincense as a traditional remedy for arthritis. “Our research achieved the use of innovative chemical extraction techniques to determine the active ingredient in frankincense,” says Ali. “We will now be able to further characterize the chemical entity and compare its success against other anti-inflammatory drugs used for treating the condition.”

The Song Remains The Same ....

Boehner offers millionaire tax hike

Signaling new movement in "fiscal cliff" talks, House Speaker John Boehner has proposed raising the top rate for earners making more than $1 million, a person familiar with the negotiations said.

 More

Millions face higher taxes real soon without fix

Millions of families and businesses will get hit by big tax increases a lot sooner than many realize if Congress and the White House don't agree on a plan to skirt the year-end fiscal cliff of higher tax rates and big government spending cuts.

In fact, they already have.

More than 70 tax breaks enjoyed by individuals and businesses expired at the end of 2011. If Congress doesn't extend them retroactively back to the beginning of this year, a typical middle-class family could face a $4,000 tax increase when it files its 2012 return in the spring, according to an analysis by H&R Block, the tax preparing giant.

At the same time, businesses could lose dozens of tax breaks they have enjoyed for years, including generous credits for investing in research and development, write-offs for restaurants and retail stores that expand or upgrade, and tax breaks for financial companies with overseas subsidiaries.

Even if Congress does act, last-minute changes to federal tax laws could make it difficult for taxpayers to figure out their 2012 tax bills.
"We're really expecting this upcoming tax season to be one of the more challenging ones on record," said Kathy Pickering, executive director of The Tax Institute at H&R Block. "For your 2012 returns there's so much confusion about what will be impacted."

Much of Washington is consumed by negotiations over how to address automatic tax increases scheduled to take effect next year. That's when tax cuts first enacted under the shrub, and extended under President Barack Obama, are scheduled to expire. A temporary reduction in the Social Security payroll tax is set to vanish as well.

Obama wants to let the shrub-era tax cuts expire on incomes above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for married couples, while extending the tax cuts for people making less.

House Speaker John Boehner and other repugicans have said they are open to more tax revenue through reducing or eliminating unspecified tax breaks. But Boehner, r-Ohio, late last week moved toward the president's position, proposing raising top rates for people earning more than $1 million in exchange for deeper spending cuts, particularly in health care and other mandatory spending programs.

Obama has not accepted that offer, according to people familiar with the talks, but Boehner's offer suggests that the negotiations are being renewed after appearing stalled just days ago.
Lost in the debate is a big package of tax breaks that already expired for 2012. Lawmakers in both parties say they expect those tax cuts to be addressed in any deal to avoid the "fiscal cliff." But they don't want to deal with them separately because that would reduce pressure to reach a broader budget agreement.

The biggest tax increase facing individuals for this year is the alternative minimum tax, or AMT. The tax was first enacted in 1969 to ensure that wealthy people can't use tax breaks to avoid paying any federal taxes. The AMT, however, was never adjusted for inflation, so Congress routinely does that to keep it from imposing hefty tax increases on millions of middle-income families.

Congress last adjusted the AMT in 2010, and about 4 million taxpayers paid it 2011. Without a new adjustment for the 2012 tax year, the AMT would reach an additional 28 million taxpayers, increasing their tax bill by an average of $3,700.
The tax would affect individuals making more $33,750 and married couples making more than $45,000, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

Other expired tax breaks include deductions for college expenses, deductions for state and local sales taxes, and a $250 deduction for teachers who buy classroom supplies with their own money. The sales tax deduction is geared toward taxpayers in states without state income taxes: Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming.

The tax increases could vary greatly, depending on how much money a person makes and which deductions they qualify for. For example, a single man making $65,000 who paid $6,000 in college tuition and fees would get a tax increase of $837, mainly because he would lose a deduction for college expenses, according to the H&R Block analysis.

A married couple with two young children and a $100,000 income could face a tax increase of more than $6,600, if they live in a state that doesn't have a state income tax. Most of that increase — about $4,015 — would come from the AMT. The AMT would also reduce their tax credits and they would lose a deduction for paying state and local sales taxes.

The AMT is expensive to fix. A two-year adjustment passed by the Senate Finance Committee last summer would save middle-income taxpayers a total of $132 billion in 2012 and 2013, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation, the official scorekeeper for Congress. The bill addressed many of the tax breaks that expired for 2012, and the committee passed it with bipartisan support. But the full Senate never considered it.

The AMT adjustment also includes a rule that affects the way tax credits are calculated for millions of taxpayers, even if they don't have to pay the AMT, the IRS said. These taxpayers may not necessarily face a tax increase, but there could be delays in processing their returns.

Congress has always adjusted the AMT in the past, and the IRS is preparing as if lawmakers will do so again, acting IRS Commissioner Steven T. Miller said in a recent letter to members of Congress. If lawmakers don't address the AMT, about 60 million taxpayers, nearly half of all individual filers, would have to wait until late March — if not later — to file their returns while the IRS reworks its systems, Miller said.

"Essentially, IRS has said it will be chaos — chaos! — trying to make it work," said Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.

And a child shall lead them ...

TSA holds 12 y.o. girl in wheelchair for 1 hour, for ‘explosives’

TSA wouldn’t let mom comfort crying daughter throughout ordeal.

 
The TSA has done a mostly good job lately of staying out of the news for being complete idiots, but with the holiday season approaching, we may be hearing more soon. In this case, the TSA held a young girl – away from her parents – for an hour while trying to figure out why she tested positive for explosives.For the millionth time, everyone wants to be safe, but is this type of behavior doing anything positive for the process? Common sense needs to play a much more important role with the TSA.
Was this really necessary?

The girl suffers from brittle bone disease and was flying to Tampa, Florida, for treatment on Sunday. But the TSA detained her in Terminal A of DFW Airport after randomly selecting her for an explosives test.
When a screener swabbed Walser’s palms and fingers, Daniels said her daughter tested positive for explosives…
Daniels said she couldn’t comfort her crying daughter because screeners ordered her to keep back during the hour it took bomb experts to settle the situation.

It’s interesting that the story cleans up the language of the TSA official talking to the young girl. Here’s what they say the official said:

“It’s okay, you didn’t do anything wrong, we’re going to get you on your way,” an official said to Shelbi Walser, 12, as she cried on a video her mother recorded.

Not quite. Here’s what he actually said:

“It’s okay, you don’t do nutt’n wrong.”

I raise this because it speaks to the level of training and education.

Video | News | Weather | Sports

Thu Dec 13 20:26:52 PST 2012

Parents criticize TSA for handling of girl in a wheelchair

"I am by no means undermining our safety in the air. After 9/11, by no means am I doing that. But when it comes to children, common sense is not in a textbook," said Tammy Daniels, reacting the TSA’s handling of her daughter in a wheelchair. view full article

Domino's founder sues feds over health care law

The founder of Domino's Pizza is suing the federal government over mandatory contraception coverage in the health care law.

More

The truth be told

Teacher becomes heir to gold fortune

A substitute teacher from California was found to be the only heir to a fortune of gold coins discovered by a cleaning crew in the home of a reclusive cousin who quietly stashed away a treasure of more than $7 million before he died this year.

  More

Florida woman to be sentenced in husband's New York killing

A Florida woman convicted of arranging the killings of her millionaire husband and mother-in-law will hear her sentence Monday — if she's in the courtroom.

A disgusted Narcy Novack, apparently certain she'd be found guilty, decided not to attend in June when a federal jury's verdict was read.

"We all wondered, 'Where's Narcy?'" one juror said.

She and her brother, Cristobal Veliz, were convicted of hiring hit men to carry out the 2009 beating deaths of Ben Novack Jr. in a suburban New York hotel room and Bernice Novack at her Fort Lauderdale, Fla., home.

Ben Novack was the son of the man who built the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami Beach, which appeared in the movies "Scarface" and "Goldfinger."

The sentence will be bad news too — the U.S. attorney's office has asked Judge Kenneth Karas to send Novack to prison for life, and her own lawyer is suggesting a 27-year stretch. He argues that she had only a minor role in Bernice Novack's death and was "substantially less culpable than other participants."

He also said her crime-free background and her age should be considered.

Veliz's lawyer has not submitted a sentencing recommendation.

Novack, 56, an Ecuador native who lived in Fort Lauderdale, would likely die in prison even under the 27-year scenario, defense attorney Howard Tanner said. But it would give her at least "a chance of reformation and rehabilitation."

"She would be released from prison an elderly woman with virtually no possessions or home," he told the judge. "Her future is in all respects bleak and limited."

Prosecutor Elliott Jacobson said it should stay that way forever. He told the judge in court papers that Novack and Veliz "engaged in the very worst criminal conduct imaginable."

"They are evil; they are dangerous; they are remorseless; and they are relentless," he wrote. He said the killings "involved particularly cruel, sadistic and gratuitous savagery seldom seen in the annals of crime."

Prosecutors said Novack feared that her husband, who was having an affair, would divorce her, and that a prenuptial agreement would bar her from the multimillion-dollar family estate.

She recruited her brother and he hired a group of thugs who testified about slamming Bernice Novack in the teeth and head with a plumber's wrench and beating Ben Novack with barbells and slicing his eyes with a knife.

Veliz denied any involvement and blamed Narcy Novack's daughter for the killings. Her two sons stand to inherit the bulk of the family estate, which includes Ben Novack's large collection of Batman memorabilia.

Narcy Novack did not testify. But before her arrest she gave police a striking account of her marriage, including that her husband had a fetish for amputees. She also said she once went into a hospital to have a broken nose repaired and awoke with breast implants she hadn't requested.

In addition to the murder charge, the defendants were convicted of domestic violence, stalking, money laundering and witness tampering.

"Chicken-footed" building

A Sami storehouse

Traditional raised Sami storehouse, displayed at Skansen, Stockholm. A similar structure, the izbushka, is mentioned in Russian children stories as a house with chicken feet.

I haven't found any further information on this design.  The izbushka is mentioned in a Wikipedia article on Baba Yaga:

He journeyed onwards, straight ahead [...] and finally came to a little hut; it stood in the open field, turning on chicken legs... Ivan walks for some time before encountering a small hut identical to the first... After walking for some time, Ivan eventually finds the chicken-legged hut of the youngest of the three sisters turning in an open field.

There are a number of images of chicken-legged huts retrievable at Google Images, most of them related to the Baba Yaga tale.

I would have to assume that the Sami structure is a practical rather than a whimsical creation, developed in response to the types of wood/driftwood available and probably the presence of a difficult-to-penetrate (frozen) ground or unstable (thawing) tundra and the need to elevate the storehouse above predators.

No time to look it up now.  Some readers may wish to pursue the matter on their own.

Addendum: Note the similarity to English "staddle stones":

...originally used as supporting bases for granaries, hayricks, game larders, etc. The staddle stones lifted the granaries above the ground thereby protecting the stored grain from vermin and water seepage. In Middle English staddle or stadle is stathel, from Old English stathol, a foundation, support or trunk of a tree...

The staddle stones usually had a separate head and base which gave the whole structure a 'mushroom' like appearance. Different areas in the United Kingdom had different designs. The base varied from cylindrical to tapered rectangular to near triangular. Flat topped cone shaped staddle stones are to be found in parts of the Isle of Wight. The tops are flat to support the beams, however some variation does exists, such as square tops, fluted designs, slate tops, etc.

Old land deeds in northeastern United States often refer to Oak Staddle or Walnut Staddle. These deeds are from the late 18th century to the middle 19th century. Either the owners would cut a tree leaving the stump and request that the surveyors measure to it, or the surveyor would measure out to the location of a new lot corner and a staddle would be inserted into the ground like a boundary stone.

Prehistoric lyre bridge discovered

Youtube link. 

Archaeologists excavating the High Pasture Cave on the Isle of Skye have discovered a wooden fragment that they believe came from a lyre or similar stringed instrument. The fragment was burned and part of it broken off, but you can clearly see the carved string notches that identify it as a bridge. It was discovered in the rake-out deposits of the hearth outside the entrance to the cave. The deposits date to between 550 and 450 B.C., which would make the bridge a fragment of the oldest stringed instrument found in Europe...

Musical instruments from Iron Age Europe were not the luxury models of ancient Sumer nor did they have the advantage of a dry, hot environment to preserve the wood. Even Roman-era instruments are so hard to come by that we have to rely on literature, mosaics and frescoes to learn about them, or carvings on altars like the one unearthed in Musselburgh in 2010 which until now was the earliest representation of a musical instrument ever found in Scotland. Finding a piece of an instrument that is centuries older than any previous discoveries and is so clearly recognizable as a piece of an instrument (the bridge is probably the single most recognizable part of a lyre because of its shape and the string notches) is therefore enormously significant to our understanding of ancient music and poetry in Europe.

Text and image from The History Blog, where there is more information and additional relevant links.

Abraham Lincoln's cached check

Stored in bank vaults belonging to Huntington Bancshares:

The collection includes checks for as little as $1.56 (from Franklin Delano Roosevelt) and as much as $10,000 (from Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain). The Abraham Lincoln check—made out in the amount of $800 to "Self" and dated April 13, 1865—was perhaps the president's last check. By the end of the next day, he was shot.

The stamp affixed to the left side of the check is an orange 2c Bank Check revenue stamp from the first issue of 1862.  Eight hundred dollars was a lot of money in 1865; I wonder what Lincoln needed it for - perhaps to cover one of his wife's notorious shopping sprees?

Porsche hybrid (1900)

Porsche rolled into the New York Auto Show with Semper Vivus, a meticulous $750,000 reproduction of the series hybrid Ferdinand Porsche built in 1900. The car provided a nice contrast to the $95,000 Panamera S Hybrid making its North American debut at the show.

Semper Vivus, Latin for “always alive,” works a lot like the Chevrolet Volt. Batteries provide juice to the hub-mounted motors, and a pair of tiny single-cylinder engines step in to drive two 2.5-kilowatt generators that keep electricity flowing when the batteries go kaput.

The specs are impressive, even by today’s standards. The batteries have a range of 40 kilometers (25 miles). Once the 3.5-horsepower engines fire up, Semper Vivus can go another 160 kilometers (100 miles). Top speed is 35 mph, quite quick for its day. One cool bit: the tires were chiseled from solid blocks of rubber, the only way to support the weight of the car. Semper Vivus weighs 3,700 pounds.

And this comment from the Wired source last year: "There will be some debate as to which looks better."

Is Light Subject to Gravity?:

What happens when everything you thought about the world changes during a two-minute video? 

Find out. Read more

 

Curiosity Goes MAD

The Mars rover will be celebrated in the Dec. 18 edition of the famed humor magazine. Read more

Titan's 'Nile River' Discovered

The Cassini spacecraft has detected a 250 mile-long river on the Saturnian moon with a striking resemblance to the Nile.

Read more

 

NASA’S Hubble Provides First Census of Galaxies Near Cosmic Dawn

Using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have uncovered a previously unseen population of seven primitive galaxies that formed more than ...

Continue Reading 

Astronomical News

First Planetary Flyby Occurred 50 Years Ago

Mariner 2 zoomed to within 21,564 miles of Venus on Dec. 14, 1962. Read more

Chinese Probe Buzzes Asteroid Toutatis

The Chinese Chang'e 2 probe has completed flyby of asteroid Toutatis, a five-kilometer-long space rock that recently had a "close" encounter with Earth. Read more

Will NASA Boldly Go to Europa?

Researchers are developing a mission that would assess the habitability of the icy satellite. Read more

Kamikaze Probes to Smash into Lunar Mountain

The two NASA GRAIL robotic moon satellites will make the suicidal and dramatic plunge into a lunar mountain on Monday. Read more

Andromeda's Bling: Tiny Greedy Quasar Found

That's right, the nearby spiral galaxy Andromeda is strutting some quasar bling -- the first microquasar discovered beyond our own galaxy. Read more

Hubble Detects Furthest Oldest Galaxy... Again?!

It seems like every other day astronomers have discovered the "oldest most distant galaxy" -- but this new record breaker is really very old, and extremely distant. Read more

Random Photo

Frostbitten elephants saved by two cases of vodka in Siberian freeze

Two elephants have been saved from the deadly Siberian cold by drinking vodka, Russian officials say. They say the animals had to be taken out into the bitter cold after the wooden trailer they were travelling in caught fire in the Novosibirsk region.
The elephants, aged 45 and 48, suffered frostbite to the tips of their ears amid temperatures of -40C (-40F). But they were warmed up by two cases of vodka mixed with warm water. "They started roaring like if they were in the jungle! Perhaps, they were happy," the official said.

The animals continued their recovery in a heated garage of a local college where they were taken by a truck under police escort. The elephants belong to a Polish circus, which has been touring the region, reports say.

Like with humans, alcohol can make animals feel warmer but it actually lowers their core body temperature, scientists say. Novosibirsk zoo director Rostislav Shilo said that the elephants were not harmed or intoxicated by the vodka, and that without it they would have died of hypothermia or pneumonia.

The Discus Fish Nurses Its Young

The discus fish doesn't have mammary glands, but the parents secrete mucous and allow their young to eat it:

Jonathan Buckley from the University of Plymouth, UK, explains that discus fish young feed on the mucus that their parents secrete over their bodies until they are big enough to forage. [...]
During the first 3 days after hatching, the fry remained attached to the cone where the parents laid their eggs, absorbing the yolk and gaining strength until all of the fry were able to swim independently. Then they left the cone en masse and began feeding on their parents' mucus, feeding for up to 10 min by biting at the parent's side until the parent expertly ‘flicked’ the shoal over to its partner to continue feeding. The parents diligently fed their young intensely for 2 weeks. However, 3 weeks after hatching the parents' behaviour began to change as they started swimming away from their young for brief periods. At the same time the fry began biting their parents less and investigating other food sources. By the fourth week the parents were actively swimming away from their brood for the majority of the time and the fry barely bit them at all.

The mucous, like a mammal's milk, is highly nutritious and just what a young discus fish needs:

Monitoring the composition of the parents' mucus before they spawned and through to the end of their parental responsibilities, Buckley found a huge increase in the mucus's antibody and protein levels when the parents laid their eggs, similar to the changes seen in mammalian milk around the time of birth. The protein and antibody levels remained high until the third week and returned to pre-spawning levels during the fourth week after hatching. Buckley suspects that the sudden increase in protein levels at spawning is hormonally regulated, much like the changes in mammalian milk, and is keen to find out more about the hormones that regulate the fish's mucus supply as they care for their young.

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Blind cat fish species discovered

 
The discoverers say species like this play key roles in subterranean ecosystems

A new species of blind cat fish has been discovered by scientists working in south India.

This, along with other new animals, were identified in an old deep well in the southern Indian state of Kerala.
The new blind cat fish, which is blood red in color, has an elongated body measuring about 3.8cm in length.
The scientists say the find sheds light on hitherto unexplored subterranean habitats in India.
The new species of blind cat fish has been named Horaglanis abdulkalami after former Indian President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.
It was meant as a tribute to his contributions to science and science education, the discoverers said.
The unique character of H. abdulkalami is it's red blood color. The scientists say the fish are able to feed on minute organic matter in the soil.
Kerala's wetlands provide an ideal habitat for such animals. Species like the catfish are key to maintaining these ecosystems, since their feces provide sustenance to other species.
The researchers are working to sequence the catfish's genome, to determine whether it might be related to any other species within India or in other countries.
"We gave done the basic morphology of the species, but we are still going into the molecular characterization to trace their ancestors and their evolutionary links," Dr Bijoy Nandan from Cochin University of Science and Technology told the BBC Tamil Service.
The same team also discovered a new species of blind eel in the area.
It has been named Monopterus trichurensis after the district of Trissur (formerly Trichur) where the discovery was made.
Scientists say that because of the endemic distribution and scarcity of these two species should be treated under the threatened list of IUCN.
"Our observations from various studies indicate they could live for a couple of years," said Dr Nandan.
But he added that further studies would have to be carried to determine the longevity of the animals.

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Today in History

1862		Nathan B. Forrest crosses the Tennessee River at Clifton with 2,500 men to raid the communications around Vicksburg, Mississippi.
1862		In New Orleans, Louisiana, Union Major General Benjamin F. Butler turns his command over to Nathaniel Banks. The citizens of New Orleans hold farewell parties for Butler, "The Beast," but only after he leaves.
1864		The battle at Nashville begins.
1890		As U.S. Army soldiers attempt to arrest Sitting Bull at his cabin in Standing Rock, South Dakota, shooting breaks out and Lt. Bullhead shoots the great Sioux leader.
1903		The British parliament places a 15-year ban on whale hunting in Norway.
1920		China wins a place on the League Council; Austria is admitted.
1924		The Soviet Union warns the United States against repeated entry of ships into Soviet territorial waters.
1938		Washington sends its fourth note to Berlin demanding amnesty for Jews.
1944		The battle for Luzon begins.
1946		Vietnam leader Ho Chi Minh sends a note to the new French Premier, Leon Blum, asking for peace talks.
1961		Adolf Eichmann, the former German Gestapo official accused of a major role in the Nazi murder of 6 million Jews, is sentenced by a Jerusalem court to be hanged.
1965		The United States drops 12 tons of bombs on an industrial center near Haiphong Harbor, North Vietnam.
1967		President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the meat bill in the presence of Upton Sinclair, the author of the controversial book The Jungle.
1972		The Commonwealth of Australia orders equal pay for women.

Non Sequitur

Did you know ...

That there have been 15 mass shooting w/84 dead in the us in 2012

And here's a list of the deadliest shootings in u.s. history

And does the NRA represent gun owners or gun manufacturers?

An artist satirizes NYPD, gets arrested

That failed repugican policies are responsible for a decade of American economic woes

And are social networks good for your health?

Another Wall Street bank cuts 11,000 jobs after paying millions to ousted execs

That meditation changes the way your brain processes emotions

It's time to tax the traders!

Here's 10 outrageous tactics the cops can get away with

The truth be told

Many single women, a key bloc, are avoiding repugicans

Sara Stevenson spends her working hours surrounded by repugicans, namely the married men who work alongside her in a Denver oil and gas firm company. But after hours and on weekends, she usually spends her time with other single women, and there's not a repugican in sight among the bunch.

"There was just no way I could have supported any repglican this year," said Stevenson, 31. "They skew so much to the religi-o-wingnut right. ... They focused so much on taxes. It's not something that women in my demographic really care about. I've never heard my friends lament their taxes."

As repugicans dust off their Election Day drubbing last month, their party must confront the reality that the ranks of unmarried women are growing rapidly, and these voters overwhelmingly have backed Democrats for decades.

Women increasingly are graduating from college and joining the workforce, and postponing marriage. From 2000 to 2010, the number of unmarried women increased 18 percent, according to census data.
The repugicans have spent the past month tallying up all their demographic weak spots, including with Hispanics and Asian-Americans. But some warn that single women, already one-quarter of the electorate, represent the most serious threat to the party's viability.

"It's a faster-growing demographic than most others," said Kellyanne Conway, a repugican pollster. "That's a cultural zeitgeist that demands a political response."

In 1960, the average American woman married at age 20. Now it's 27. That reflects, and is partly the cause of, a boom in solo living, with nearly one-third of all U.S. households comprised of single people living alone, according to Eric Klinenberg, a New York University sociologist and author of a book on the subject. In 1950, it was 9 percent.
Around the world, as women gain more education and earn more money, they increasingly are delaying marriage, said Stephanie Coontz, who teaches history and family studies at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash., and is director of research for the Council on Contemporary Families. "Nowadays, women don't feel so driven to get married because they can support themselves," she said. "A lot of this is driven by women and a combination of lowering payoffs to just marrying any man and rising expectations" of what marriage will bring, she added.

For decades, Conway said, Democrats targeted unmarried women while the repugican cabal dismissed them.

In the Nov. 6 election, President Barack Obama's campaign targeted this group in a series of direct mail and email pieces featuring the singer Beyonce and activist Lily Ledbetter, whose name was on the first bill Obama signed, making it easier for women to sue over unequal pay. The campaign also released an online video by actor and writer Lena Dunham that compared a woman's first time voting to losing her virginity.

Now, Conway said, "the repugicans have to decide if they want a one-party response or a two-party response."

In a presidential election dominated by debates over women's health and abortion, unmarried women backed Obama over repugican Mitt Romney by a 67-31 margin. Since 1992, when exit polls began identifying single voters, unmarried women have favored Democrats by similar margins.

Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who wrote a book with Conway on the women's vote, said unmarried women are a tough group for the repugicans to crack.
"Any way you cut it, this demographic is much more on their own and much more precarious and much more interested in a safety net," Lake said. "If you're married, you're much more likely to be a churchgoer and have your church as a community. If you're married, you're much more likely to have owned your home for a while and have that community to rely on. If you're married, you're more likely to have your spouse to depend on."

Single men are also significantly more likely to back Democrats than repugicans, but that is largely a function of their age, because they are largely younger. Unmarried women, however, are more evenly spread across all age groups and consistently lean Democratic, said Page S. Gardner, president of the Voter Participation Center, which tries to increase voting by single women. They also are much more likely to support abortion rights.

In Colorado, Democrats have assiduously focused on abortion and other health issues to win support from both married and single women. In 2010, Sen. Michael Bennet defied the repugican wave by hammering his tea party challenger on his opposition to abortion rights. This year, Obama campaigned in the state with activist Sandra Fluke, an unmarried law student branded a "slut" by the blowhard Lush Dimbulb for testifying before Congress in support of requiring that employer-provided health insurance covers contraception.

The Obama campaign attacked Romney on the airwaves over his refusal to support the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, his opposition to federal dollars for Planned Parenthood and his opposition to abortion rights.

Katy Atkinson, a repugican consultant in Denver, said that two elections in a row should be a warning sign for the repugicans.

"That whole fighting social issues with economic issues just doesn't work," she said. Atkinson noted that both Romney, as well as Bennet's opponent, Ken Buck, contended that women really cared about pocketbook issues rather than reproductive issues. "While women care about pocketbook issues, they don't want to elect an extremist."

Conway said the repugicans can win over unmarried women on economic matters. "What do women, married or unmarried, do every week?" Conway asked. "Do they fill up the gas tank or get an abortion?"
Lauren Koebcke, 32, is a glimmer of hope for repugicans. She is single, favors gay marriage and abortion rights but sides with the repugicans on economic issues. The bad news for the repugicans is that she's the only one of her single friends who votes repubgican.

"Most people I know are Democrats and most Democrats I know are single," said Koebcke, a project manager in Austin, almost 300 miles west of Denver. "Most repugicans want home and hearth. They want babies and that family life."

Stevenson isn't sure whether she wants a family. "Most of us didn't make any money until we were 26 year old and we want to enjoy ourselves," she said. She logs 11 hour days analyzing legal issues for her energy company. "I can't imagine coming home and having to cook dinner and deal with someone else's problems," she said. "I'm not there yet."

She also knows that repugicans won't be getting her vote anytime soon.

The repugican Senate candidates in Missouri and Indiana infuriated her when they tried to explain why they think rape victims shouldn't be allowed to have abortions. Stevenson stayed up late on election night just to confirm that they both lost.

The women's issues that Obama emphasized, such as equal pay for women and contraception coverage, are pocketbook issues to Stevenson. The fact that repugican candidates denigrated them as social issues just shows how out of touch the repugican cabal is, she said.

"There are just so many off-putting comments from the repugican cabal," Stevenson said. "It's crazy to me that they're still acting as if women are a niche market."

Belief in climate change on the rise in US

It’s only taken drought and Hurricane Sandy to wake up a few people, but progress is progress. Whether this means people are coming to the realization that Faux News has been telling lies, or that Big Oil is actively engaged in distorting the truth, is hard to say.It’s going to take some big changes to correct the mistakes of recent decades.  But America is big on real reform, even when it starts to focus on a “problem.”

Look at the budget talks.  Even though it was radical tax cuts and two wars (once based on a lie) that are the primary causes of the deficit, we’re talking about cutting other “innocent” programs in order to pay for the mistakes of the bad ones.
Even when the public mood swings the right direction, it’s hard to see people insisting on actual reform that does any good.  Just look at guns.  How many children have to die, how many more mass shootings do we need, before any real reform is done in that area?
There are just too many other problems to address, that aren’t being addressed, though this may eventually supersede them all.  At least on the bright side, people are increasingly worried.  And that’s something.
More on the AP-GfK poll:

The poll found 4 out of every 5 Americans said climate change will be a serious problem for the United States if nothing is done about it. That’s up from 73 percent when the same question was asked in 2009.
And 57 percent of Americans say the U.S. government should do a great deal or quite a bit about the problem. That’s up from 52 percent in 2009. Only 22 percent of those surveyed think little or nothing should be done, a figure that dropped from 25 percent.
Overall, 78 percent of those surveyed said they believe temperatures are rising, up from 75 percent three years earlier. In general, U.S. belief in global warming, according to AP-GfK and other polls, has fluctuated over the years but has stayed between about 70 and 85 percent.

While this trend is no doubt positive, it’s also crazy to think that it’s taken so long to come around. Most of the industrialized world has been of this thinking for years and has grown frustrated with the lack of attention or seriousness by the US.
Much like our crazy gun laws and gun violence, the rest of the world just scratches its head and wonders what the heck is wrong with the US on some issues. It would be nice if Americans dropped their infatuation with Faux News and the bible and moved back to the truth. We used to be thought leaders, and it’s time we get back there again.

Top Pentagon propagandist boasted of running a smear campaign against USA Today

Camille Chidiac, one of the owners of "the Pentagon's top propaganda contractor in Afghanistan" is being sued for stealing company secrets related to waterproofing Iphones, and the lawsuit's filings include documents alleging that Chiciac boasted of running a smear campaign against USA Today:

The online smear campaign began early in 2012 and included fake Twitter feeds, Facebook pages and fan club sites. Chidiac, according to the lawsuit, said he could mount such attacks and the paper "would never know it was him."
The smears ended in late April after Pentagon officials were alerted to it. Chidiac acknowledged his role in creating the websites in May but said he had done so as a private citizen. He promised to sell his stake in the company but has not done so, said Gar Smith, a Leonie spokesman.
Jason Fandrich, an attorney for Chidiac, called the accusations in the lawsuit frivolous and without merit.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Lawsuit: Propaganda firm owner boasted of online smears

Preparing For Winter Olympics 2014

Winter 2014 Olympic Games will be held in the Russian city of Sochi, as you might know. Now we are going to show you some photos of how the Olympic objects have been built in 2011-2012. More

Speed camera issued speeding ticket to car stopped at red light

A Baltimore City speed camera ticket alleged that the four-door Mazda wagon was going 38 miles per hour in a 25-mph zone - and that owner Daniel Doty owed $40 for the infraction. But the Mazda wasn't speeding. It wasn't even moving. The two photos printed on the citation as evidence of speeding show the car was idling at a red light with its brake lights illuminated.

A three-second video clip also offered as evidence shows the car motionless, as traffic flows by on a cross street. City officials gave no explanation for how it happened. Doty, a lawyer who lives in Lauraville, said he and his wife were amazed that the ticket was issued, calling it "shockingly obvious" from the images that the car was stopped.

He has challenged the ticket. "It was like someone was so obviously asleep at the switch," he said. "I thought that was not supposed to happen." The city's speed camera contractor, Xerox State and Local Solutions, says each potential citation goes through two layers of review to weed out any that have a deficiency, such as an illegible licence plate.


YouTube link.

Then a Baltimore police officer must review the citation before approving it for issuance to the vehicle owner. Each citation says the officer swears or affirms that the car was going at least 12 mph over the speed limit "based on inspection of the recorded images." The officer's signature is also printed. Transportation Department spokeswoman Adrienne Barnes offered no explanation.

Gasoline prices soon to hit low point for 2012

Gas prices will soon drop to their lowest level of the year. By Monday, the national average should fall below the $3.28 a gallon that drivers paid on Jan. 1, according to analysts. The drop is a gift for those hitting the road during what is expected to be the busiest Christmas travel season in six years.
Still, it's more like a stocking stuffer. That's because for the second straight year, Americans will spend a record amount on gasoline. The government estimates that gas averaged $3.63 a gallon this year, 10 cents above the record set a year ago.
Drivers can only hope that forecasts for lower prices next year come true.

A combination of high oil prices and supply shortages caused by refinery and pipeline problems kept gas prices elevated for most of the year. The national average hit a high of $3.94 a gallon in early April and was around $3.87 in September after Hurricane Isaac disrupted supplies from the Gulf Coast.

Prices in most areas have fallen since then as supplies got replenished and refiners switched to cheaper winter blends of fuel. However, New York and New Jersey saw temporary spikes in November due to Superstorm Sandy. At $3.77 a gallon, New York's average price is the second-highest in the nation, behind Hawaii's $4, according to auto club AAA.
Californians continue to pay some of the highest gas prices in the U.S. But they're likely relieved to be spending an average of $3.59 a gallon just two months after a refinery fire and pipeline shutdown sent prices at the corner station soaring close to $5.
The nation's lowest prices are found mostly in the lower Midwest and parts of the South. Missouri is closest to cracking the $3 level, with its average price of $3.01. Oklahoma, South Carolina and four other states show an average of $3.10 a gallon or less.

AAA says 93.3 million people will travel at least 50 miles between Dec. 22 and Jan. 1, the most since 2006. So, the falling price of gas will provide a little relief to motorists, who've been digging deep for gas money all year. The average driver will pay a little less than $2,700 for 744 gallons of gasoline this year, which will be a record, according to data from Oil Prices Information Service.

Americans' fuel bill ran up even as they used the least amount of gas in more than a decade. The slower U.S. economy and an increase in fuel efficient cars helped cut gasoline consumption, which government data show peaked in 2007. Consumption is expected to be about 8.73 million barrels per day this year, which would be the lowest level since 2001.
Prices should be cheaper next year, forecasters say.
Barring unexpected events like hurricanes or a conflict that disrupts oil supplies from the Middle East, OPIS chief oil analyst Tom Kloza said the nationwide price for gas should stay below $4 per gallon in 2013. The government is predicting $3.43 a gallon for next year, which would be the lowest price since 2010 when gas averaged $2.78 a gallon.

The Classics

Famous Nail Houses

A nail house is a neologism for homes belonging to people who refuse to make room for development. The term, a pun coined by developers, refers to nails that are stuck in wood, and cannot be pounded down with a hammer.

Every couple of years, these defiant nail houses make the rounds online. They serve as a symbolic testament to the 'little guy' standing up against the government and pushy developers.

Disaster Tourism at the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Site

A first-hand account of disaster tourism sees guest writer Adrienne Erin on a trip to explore the abandoned city of Pripyat, site of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. More