Big Tree

The caption on this picture claims it is a fig tree in a sugar cane field Queensland, Australia, circa 1870. If so, that's a mighty big fig tree. Its figs must have been quite bruised when they fell.

Unrest in North Africa and the Middle East

A very nice article, attempting to explain the ongoing revolutions.

The Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks

I've read about this before, but this is a very nice synopsys about the Immortal Cells of Henrietta Lacks.  Countless people are alive and thousands have become very wealthy through experimentation with her tissue.  Perhps there oughta be a law.

Norwell vs. Bellmont Tonight

The Norwell girls crushed Maconaquah in their Peru Sectional opener on Tuesday, 79-15, moving them to 18-2 on the season.  Norwell takes on Bellmont tonight at 7:30.  Norwell will be looking to repeat their January 15th defeat of the Braves.

Wayne takes on Peru in the opening game at 5pm.

Potential Cure for Type 1 Diabetes

Suppressing the hormone glucagon may restore glucose homeostasis to normal... Interesting.

Egypt 2011

Are we on the right side of what's going on in Egypt?  I see VP Biden is supporting President Mubarak by saying Mubarak's not a dictator... but the guy's been running Egypt since Sadat was assassinated in 1981... he routinely arrests his political opposition and now he's pulled the plug on the Internet in Egypt.  If Mubarak crushes this uprising... how are all those protesting going to feel about America, which not only didn't speak out for them (just like we didn't speak out for the protesters in Iran), but we spoke out for the anti-democratic ruler.

We seem to seek stability more than democracy.

An Idea Whose Time Has Come

I like Rand Paul's plan a lot... it's about time, after decades of failure, to get rid of the department's of Energy and Education and Housing and Urban Development and the Commission of Fine Arts and support for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment of the Arts and Humanities.  America didn't always have these departments... how long must they fail before we finally eliminate them?

Rest in Peace Jack LaLanne

I remember Jack LaLanne's TV show well.  His exercise equipment on his show was a chair and a towel.  In his own workouts, though, it was weights -- weights until he couldn't do them anymore.

Rest well, Jack LaLanne... at 96, you deserve it.

The Girl with the Pearl Earring

Johannes Vermeer painted "The Girl with the Pearl Earring" (above) in 1665. Dorothee Golz created the modern day version (below) digitally.

Golz is experimenting by putting portraits from hundreds of years ago into modern settings and modern body language... of her various attempts with this and other photoshops, this is one that seems to work... I suppose that says a lot about the original.

Ex-NY Mayor Ed Koch stands up for Civility

Mayor Koch has always been one to speak his mind. His comments regarding that recent attacks on Sarah Palin are no exception:

The fools in politics today in both parties are those who think she is dumb. I've never met her, but I've always thought that she is highly intelligent but not knowledgeable in many areas and politically uninformed. I don't believe she will run for president in 2012 or that she would be elected if she did. But I do believe she is equal in ability to many of those in the Republican Party seeking that office.

Many women understand what she has done for their cause. She will not be silenced nor will she leave the heavy lifts to the men in her Party. She will not be falsely charged, remain silent, and look for others - men - to defend her. She is plucky and unafraid.

Well said. I tire of listening to Newt Gingrich and Charles Krauthammer complain that Palin should remain silent... they join the Democrat comics and commentators who just want Palin to shut up. Apparently, this was the one thing they all liked about President Bush, that he will not defend himself. It makes it so much easier if those you slander and libel just take it in silence.

Climate Bunco

Dr. Richard Lindzen, an atmospheric physicist at MIT,  writes A Case Against Precipitous Climate Action over at Watt's Up With That:

The notion of a static, unchanging climate is foreign to the history of the earth or any other planet with a fluid envelope...

[ Climate change disasters ] depend not on some global average of surface temperature anomaly, but on a huge number of regional variables including temperature, humidity, cloud cover, precipitation, and direction and magnitude of wind. The state of the ocean is also often crucial. Our ability to forecast any of these over periods beyond a few days is minimal (a leading modeler refers to it as essentially guesswork). Yet, each catastrophic forecast depends on each of these being in a specific range. The odds of any specific catastrophe actually occurring are almost zero....

 

Inevitably in climate science, when data conflicts with models, a small coterie of scientists can be counted upon to modify the data.

It's hard to pick out the most interesting part of the article, so be sure to read the whole thing.  Lindzen is one of the premier scientists in the bunco squad fighting against global warming/climate change scams and hysterics.

Norwell Girls 14-1

The Lady Knights move to 14-1 on the season, defeating Bellmont by a cool 20 points.

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