[The embalmed head of one of the best loved, and most hated, kings of France has been identified by scientists 400 years after his assassination.
After nine months of the most advanced forensic tests, the scientists are convinced that a partially preserved 17th-century head, complete with hair, beard and pierced right ear, is that of King Henri IV, the first of the Bourbons and the great-great-great-grandfather of King Louis XVI.
The head has been knocking around Europe in private collections since the ancient tombs of French monarchs at Saint Denis, north of Paris, were desecrated and vandalised during the French Revolution in 1793...
Henri IV, a contemporary of Elizabeth I and William Shakespeare, is remembered as one of the most humane and far-seeing of French monarchs. He was also detested by fundamentalist Catholics and Protestants alike, and was eventually murdered on a Paris street by a diehard Catholic.
Henri de Navarre, who changed his own religion as often as he changed his mistresses, acceded to the throne in 1593 after agreeing finally "to abjure Protestantism". He is reported to have said: "Paris vaut bien une messe (Paris is worth a mass)."
In his 17 years on the throne, he introduced reforms to improve the French economy and promised that every peasant family should have a "chicken in the pot" at weekends. In 1598, the treaty of Nantes guaranteed freedom of worship to Protestants.] emphasis added
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/found-at-last-400yearold-head-of-henri-iv-2161644.html
Sunday, December 19, 2010
The Oldest Joke in the World; Flatulence, Still Funny after All These Centuries
[Most old jokes, particularly ancient jokes, aren't that funny. Certainly the world's oldest recorded joke doesn't raise many chuckles these days:
Something that's never been known since time immemorial: a young lady who doesn't break wind in her husband's lap.
This had them giddy with mirth in ancient Sumer (1900-1600 BC), but while the theme of flatulence is durable, the gag itself stinks. The same can be said of the oldest documented joke in England, an Anglo-Saxon riddle cited in the 10th century manuscript, The Exeter Codex:
Question: What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before?
Answer: A key...
A fool broke wind while in bed with a deaf person. When the latter caught the smell and began to complain, the fool said: "Come on, how could you hear it if you're supposed to be deaf?"
If you thought a theme was beginning to emerge, you'd be right. Some topics lend themselves to joking, and social taboos are particularly fertile ground. Issues that civilised society deems unacceptable can be safely addressed within the context of humour, and that's one of the reasons we enjoy, and need jokes.
There's something about an old joke, or a classic comic scene, that – once we're aware of its status – can work like a laugh track, coaxing laughter out of us. This could also explain why some jokes have instantly recognisable forms and structures. Consider this, from the Philogelos:
A student dunce goes to the doctor and says, "Doctor, when I wake up, I'm all dizzy, then after half an hour I'm OK."
"Well," advises the doctor, "wait a half-hour before waking up."
This is the first recorded "doctor, doctor" joke, and it's another ancient gag that's still funny.]
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/paul-mcdonald-heard-the-one-about-the-oldest-joke-in-the-world-its-a-cracker-2164293.html
Something that's never been known since time immemorial: a young lady who doesn't break wind in her husband's lap.
This had them giddy with mirth in ancient Sumer (1900-1600 BC), but while the theme of flatulence is durable, the gag itself stinks. The same can be said of the oldest documented joke in England, an Anglo-Saxon riddle cited in the 10th century manuscript, The Exeter Codex:
Question: What hangs at a man's thigh and wants to poke the hole that it's often poked before?
Answer: A key...
A fool broke wind while in bed with a deaf person. When the latter caught the smell and began to complain, the fool said: "Come on, how could you hear it if you're supposed to be deaf?"
If you thought a theme was beginning to emerge, you'd be right. Some topics lend themselves to joking, and social taboos are particularly fertile ground. Issues that civilised society deems unacceptable can be safely addressed within the context of humour, and that's one of the reasons we enjoy, and need jokes.
There's something about an old joke, or a classic comic scene, that – once we're aware of its status – can work like a laugh track, coaxing laughter out of us. This could also explain why some jokes have instantly recognisable forms and structures. Consider this, from the Philogelos:
A student dunce goes to the doctor and says, "Doctor, when I wake up, I'm all dizzy, then after half an hour I'm OK."
"Well," advises the doctor, "wait a half-hour before waking up."
This is the first recorded "doctor, doctor" joke, and it's another ancient gag that's still funny.]
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/paul-mcdonald-heard-the-one-about-the-oldest-joke-in-the-world-its-a-cracker-2164293.html
"The past isn't dead. It isn't even past." 150th Anniversary of Civil War Start, 20 Dec 2010
[But when it comes to the American Civil War, South Carolina is not ordinary. It was the state where passions ran highest then, and where the flame of the "Lost Cause" is most tenderly nourished now. The war was made inevitable by an act of defiance by South Carolina. How fitting, indeed how inevitable, that the 150th anniversary commemorations of the most traumatic and divisive event in the country's history should begin in similar vein, in the same state, tomorrow.
Whatever else the "Secession Ball" (tickets $100 apiece) at the handsome Gaillard Auditorium in downtown Charleston will be a colourful occasion. The programme kicks off with a 45-minute play re-enacting the signature of the Ordinance of Secession on 20 December 1860, by 170 delegates to a special convention set up by the South Carolina legislature as soon as news arrived of Abraham Lincoln's election victory on 6 November that year...
...Then there is the enduring fondness of the South for the death penalty, especially for African-Americans. Three-quarters of all executions in the US take place in the former Confederate states, a direct legacy of lynching and of slavery before that, when capital crimes were far more numerous for blacks than whites.
Most striking of all, perhaps, is the continuing debate over states' rights – the division of power between the centre and the 50 states. Then it was about slavery. But only last week the argument raised its head again, when a judge in Virginia ruled that with its requirement that every citizen purchase insurance coverage, Obama's new healthcare plan overstepped the power of central government. States' rights, too, are implicit in the platform of the Tea Party movement, with its hostility to "big government" from Washington...]
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-after-150-years-the-civil-war-still-divides-the-united-states-2164323.html
Whatever else the "Secession Ball" (tickets $100 apiece) at the handsome Gaillard Auditorium in downtown Charleston will be a colourful occasion. The programme kicks off with a 45-minute play re-enacting the signature of the Ordinance of Secession on 20 December 1860, by 170 delegates to a special convention set up by the South Carolina legislature as soon as news arrived of Abraham Lincoln's election victory on 6 November that year...
...Then there is the enduring fondness of the South for the death penalty, especially for African-Americans. Three-quarters of all executions in the US take place in the former Confederate states, a direct legacy of lynching and of slavery before that, when capital crimes were far more numerous for blacks than whites.
Most striking of all, perhaps, is the continuing debate over states' rights – the division of power between the centre and the 50 states. Then it was about slavery. But only last week the argument raised its head again, when a judge in Virginia ruled that with its requirement that every citizen purchase insurance coverage, Obama's new healthcare plan overstepped the power of central government. States' rights, too, are implicit in the platform of the Tea Party movement, with its hostility to "big government" from Washington...]
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-after-150-years-the-civil-war-still-divides-the-united-states-2164323.html
Benefits of Watching Miami Football Dolphins at Home on Intertubes
Nobody looks askance when I scream, "Die, Chad, Henne, die!!!
I didn't mean it,
Now when it comes to my Dolphins getting rag-dolled regular right guard--culprit named later--I withhold judgment.
http://firstrow.net
I didn't mean it,
Now when it comes to my Dolphins getting rag-dolled regular right guard--culprit named later--I withhold judgment.
http://firstrow.net
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
2010 Calgary Hitmen Teddy Bear Toss
[Every year, the Calgary Hitmen hockey team runs a charity toy drive for Christmas, where fans are urged to bring teddy bears and other stuffed animals and throw them down onto the ice during a game.
The players then donate the toys to a local children’s hospital.
Are there any unique toy drives in your part of the country that you know of or participate in?]
http://hillbuzz.org/2010/12/16/2010-calgary-hitmen-teddy-bear-toss-fans-donate-23000-teddy-bears-for-childrens-charity-at-hockey-game/
The players then donate the toys to a local children’s hospital.
Are there any unique toy drives in your part of the country that you know of or participate in?]
http://hillbuzz.org/2010/12/16/2010-calgary-hitmen-teddy-bear-toss-fans-donate-23000-teddy-bears-for-childrens-charity-at-hockey-game/
Christ's Concern for Humans
"Christianity is being concerned about your fellow [human], not building a million-dollar church while people are starving right around the corner. Christ was a revolutionary person, out there where it was happening. That's what God is all about, and that's where I get my strength."
- Fannie Lou Hammer
From Sojourners daily verse and voice.
Woman Sets Man's Crotch on Fire, Literally
[FORT LAUDERDALE —
Only the couple knows how the argument started, but deputies say they know how it ended: The woman set the man's pants on fire.
Fortunately, Sheldon Gonzales wasn't hurt, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
But Berlinda Faye Dixon-Newbold is feeling the heat. She's been charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony.
On Tuesday night, Dixon-Newbold, 38, approached her beau, who was sleeping on a couch, and used a lighter to set a small fire at the bottom of his shirt, over the crotch area of his pants, according to a sheriff's report.]
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/fl-pants-on-fire-brf-20101216,0,5971906.story
Only the couple knows how the argument started, but deputies say they know how it ended: The woman set the man's pants on fire.
Fortunately, Sheldon Gonzales wasn't hurt, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office.
But Berlinda Faye Dixon-Newbold is feeling the heat. She's been charged with aggravated assault with intent to commit a felony.
On Tuesday night, Dixon-Newbold, 38, approached her beau, who was sleeping on a couch, and used a lighter to set a small fire at the bottom of his shirt, over the crotch area of his pants, according to a sheriff's report.]
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/fl-pants-on-fire-brf-20101216,0,5971906.story
Thursday, December 16, 2010
"Thousands on HIV drugs desperate amid budget woes"
[PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Cash-strapped states are cutting back on a program that provides free medicine to people with HIV, leaving thousands of patients to wonder where their drugs will come from and stirring fears of a return to the days when an AIDS diagnosis meant certain death.
At least 19 states have taken such steps as capping enrollment, dropping patients, instituting waiting lists, lowering the income ceiling for eligibility, and no longer covering certain drugs or tests.
The AIDS Drug Assistance Program is funded by the federal and state governments and run by the states. It provides free drugs in all 50 states and U.S. territories. But because people are living longer with HIV and the recession has created more demand for the program, states have been unable to keep up...
In nine states, more than 4,500 people with HIV are on ADAP waiting lists or can't get into the program because enrollment is capped, according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.
More than 300 people who had coverage were dropped this year, after five states lowered their income eligibility limits to as little as $21,000 per year. Hundreds more face the same fate by February if more states follow through on plans to cut their eligibility, the alliance said.]
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIDS_DRUG_FUNDING_FLOL-?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME
At least 19 states have taken such steps as capping enrollment, dropping patients, instituting waiting lists, lowering the income ceiling for eligibility, and no longer covering certain drugs or tests.
The AIDS Drug Assistance Program is funded by the federal and state governments and run by the states. It provides free drugs in all 50 states and U.S. territories. But because people are living longer with HIV and the recession has created more demand for the program, states have been unable to keep up...
In nine states, more than 4,500 people with HIV are on ADAP waiting lists or can't get into the program because enrollment is capped, according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors.
More than 300 people who had coverage were dropped this year, after five states lowered their income eligibility limits to as little as $21,000 per year. Hundreds more face the same fate by February if more states follow through on plans to cut their eligibility, the alliance said.]
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AIDS_DRUG_FUNDING_FLOL-?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
"The liberal backlash that isn't"
[As one prominent liberal after another cried "betrayal!" over President Obama's tax cut deal last week, I cautioned against reading too much into it: One of the most underappreciated stories of Obama's tenure has been the consistent disconnect between elite liberal opinion about the president and the view of rank-and-file liberals.
That point is more evident than ever today, with the release of a new Washington Post/ABC News poll -- conducted late last week and over the weekend, as the supposed liberal backlash against the deal was at its peak -- that shows Obama's approval rating with liberal Democrats sitting at 87 percent. That's essentially where it's been all year; it represents a statistically microscopic decline from where he stood with liberal Democrats in the last WaPo/ABC survey, taken about six weeks ago. Among all Democrats, Obama's approval rating in the new survey sits at 79 percent -- again, pretty much exactly where it's been all year. As has been the case throughout his presidency, Obama's problem among Democrats -- to the extent he has one at all -- is with self-described moderates and conservatives in the party.]
The Palin that Couldn't Shoot Straight
[She {Sarah Palin} no doubt expected a backlash from the lily-livered animal rights lobby, but when Sarah Palin bundled a TV crew into the back of a truck and ventured forth into the wilds of Alaska to shoot caribou, the very last people she expected to annoy were the members of America's hunting community.
That, however, is exactly what has come to pass after the self-styled "Mamma Grizzly" allowed her weekend-long trip to the Arctic tundra to be beamed into the nation's living rooms. Not only did this week's show portray field-sports in an ugly light, say critics; it also fuelled scepticism about whether she actually knows one end of a rifle from another.
Ms Palin took no fewer than five shots to hit the beast which wandered on to the hillside where she was eating blueberries with her 72-year-old father, Chuck Snr. However it was her lousy field-craft, rather than wonky shooting, which raised the most questions about whether she really ought to call herself a "lifelong hunter".
The Conservative blogosphere, usually a forum for cheerleading on behalf the Palin cause, was awash yesterday with suggestions that her outdoorsy image is an elaborate charade.
"I turned on Sarah Palin's Alaska and she just shot four maybe even five times at a caribou and missed," noted a typical comment on the Fox News host Sean Hannity's website. "Needless to say I'm not impressed with her ability to handle a firearm let alone aim it and hit."
Among the basic items of protocol blithely ignored by Palin as she set off into the wilderness in a Rambo-style headband was her failure to take practice shots, or check the sights of the rifle, which duly turned out to be off-kilter. She failed to carry her own weapon, relying on her elderly father and his companion, Steve, to lug it around. When a beast eventually wandered into range, Ms Palin left Chuck Snr to load the rifle, and discharge spent bullet casings.
"What a joke," wrote one viewer on Palin's Facebook page. "I was a fan before the show. No one who is a true hunter lets others carry their rifle or can't load their own shells. Sarah, you are a phony."] emphases added
Microsoft Fixes 40 Flaws
[Computerworld - Microsoft today patched 40 vulnerabilities in Windows, Internet Explorer (IE), Office, SharePoint and Exchange, including nine pegged "critical."
Five of the 17 security updates -- Microsoft calls them "bulletins" -- fixed long-standing flaws that could be used by attackers to plant malware on a PC by tricking Windows into thinking a malicious DLL (dynamic link library) was actually a legitimate part of the OS.
Only two of the 17 updates were judged critical, Microsoft's top-most threat ranking in its four-step scoring system. Another 14 were marked "important," the second-highest rating, while the remaining update was labeled "moderate."]
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9201194/Microsoft_s_holiday_bonus_Fixes_for_40_flaws
Even novice users can run Windows Updates, types guy who tried to make them automatic but still has to do it manually.
Simply click on Windows icon at bottom left, then settings, then control panel, and Updates under Security.
Dad, run 'em; 'tain't too hard
Five of the 17 security updates -- Microsoft calls them "bulletins" -- fixed long-standing flaws that could be used by attackers to plant malware on a PC by tricking Windows into thinking a malicious DLL (dynamic link library) was actually a legitimate part of the OS.
Only two of the 17 updates were judged critical, Microsoft's top-most threat ranking in its four-step scoring system. Another 14 were marked "important," the second-highest rating, while the remaining update was labeled "moderate."]
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9201194/Microsoft_s_holiday_bonus_Fixes_for_40_flaws
Even novice users can run Windows Updates, types guy who tried to make them automatic but still has to do it manually.
Simply click on Windows icon at bottom left, then settings, then control panel, and Updates under Security.
Dad, run 'em; 'tain't too hard
Hottest! Pepper!! EVER!!!
[That title {hottest pepper in the world} had been held until just recently by the bhut jolokia, or "ghost chile," which is grown in India.
But the pepper industry was shaken up this month when it was announced that a British chile farmer, Gerald Fowler, crossbred three of the hottest known peppers -- the bhut jolokia, naga morich and Trinidad scorpion -- to create the Naga Viper.
A regular jalapeño measures 2,500 to 8,000 on the Scoville scale, which measures a pepper's heat. The bhut jolokia earned the title of world's hottest pepper at 1,001,304 Scoville units.
The Naga Viper eclipses that, measuring 1,359,000 on the scale, according to researchers at the Warwick University in England.
"I'm sure the pepper is going to be hot," said Walley, who grows about 350 pepper plants in his west Fort Worth back yard. "My favorites are the super-hots. You have to be careful handling them."
Naga Viper
Fowler, of The Chilli Pepper Co., grew the Naga Viper in a greenhouse surrounded by snow in Cumbria, a small county in England.
Fowler posted a note on his website about how he has spent the past two years -- a relatively short time in pepper growth -- working to create this fiery chile, which he describes as "something really special."
"It's painful to eat," Fowler has said. "It numbs your tongue, then burns all the way down. It can last an hour, and you just don't want to talk to anyone or do anything. But it makes you feel great.
"It's hot enough to strip paint."
He believes that the cold England weather may have helped his peppers become even hotter. "When they're grown over here I think they fight back against the harsher climate and produce even more.]
Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/12/12/2699053/pepper-grower-craves-hottest-chile.html#ixzz18Cz6gznu
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