The emerald green disc on the tail feather of the king bird of paradise which are used in a courtship ritual. The bird was seen in the extinct Mount Bosavi volcano in Papua New Guinea, where scientists, cavers and wildlife film makers ventured in search of rare animals and birdsPhotograph: Ulla Lohmann/BBC
“This pike was caught on the 6th of March 2006 by Dutch fisherman Ewout Blom in a pretty big lake in the south of Holland, I know the name of the lake from where quite a number of 40 plus pikes were caught and released but promised not to mention the name to avoid too heavy fishing pressure.I didn't know until I just read the Wiki entry that the fish is called a "pike" from its resemblance to the pole-weapon pike. You learn something every day.
"This pike had a length of 127 cm and a weight of 19,5 kilo and was caught trolling with a Rapala Super Shad Rap in perch colour and I have about 10 original digital pictures of this fish.
"For the metric-impaired (such as yours truly), 127cm and 19.4 kilos works out to right around 50 inches, and just barely shy of 43 pounds.”
Photographer Vanessa Winship lived and worked in the area of Eastern Turkey for almost a decade an explosive region containing the borderlands of Iraq, Iran and Armenia. Struck by enduring images of rural schoolgirls wearing little blue dresses and their delicate status within politically loaded discussions over borders and identity, Winship systematically documented her encounter with them.Via Reciprocity Failure.
"...Even though 99.999 percent of Muslims abhor attacks on innocent civilians on moral and theological grounds, 100 percent of attempted terrorist attacks on the U.S. (and, with the exception of the Basques in Spain, terrorists attacks on all Western nations) since the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing have been committed by people claiming to act in the name of Islam."Here are some of his rebutting examples:
A rocket attack on MI6 headquarters in London is believed to be the work of dissident Irish republicans...More examples and cogent discussion at the link.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation says the evidence, including hundreds of pages of unsealed documents, proves that Dr. Ivins was the sole person responsible for the 2001 anthrax mailings...
Olympic bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph...
1997 bombings at a gay nightclub and a clinic that performed abortions in the Atlanta area...
U.S.-born Jewish terrorist suspected of series of attacks over past 12 years...
While Arab-Jewish violence is common, the attack on the 73-year-old historian has shocked public opinion in Israel because all the evidence points to it being intra-Jewish. 'I consider it an act of Jewish terrorism...
A white supremacist suspected of targeting blacks, Jews and Asians in a deadly Independence Day weekend drive-by shooting rampage...
Mountaineer Militia leader Floyd Looker, convicted in an alleged plot to blow up an FBI fingerprint complex
Security theater consists of security countermeasures intended to provide the feeling of improved security while doing little or nothing to actually improve security. The term was coined by Bruce Schneier for his book Beyond Fear, but has gained currency in security circles, particularly for describing airport security measures. It is also used by some experts such as Edward Felten to describe the airport security repercussions due to the September 11 attacks. Security theater gains importance both by satisfying and exploiting the gap between perceived risk and actual risk...Via The Seminal.
In many cases, intrusive security theater measures also create secondary negative effects whose real cost is hard to quantify and likely to dwarf the direct expenses. Such ripple effects are often connected to fear; visible measures such as armed guards and highly intrusive security measures may lead people to believe that there must be a real risk associated with their activity...
"We seemed to still be behind the curve and reactive, patting down grannies and 5-year-olds, confiscating snow globes and lip glosses.
The psychology graduate can write, type, drive a car, brush her hair and talk on her phone simply using her feet. Ms Cox, from Tuscon, Arizona, USA, is also a former dancer and double black belt in Tai Kwon-Do. She has a no-restrictions driving license, she flies planes and she can type 25 words a minute.Photo gallery. I have endless admiration for people who overcome such handicaps, and have previously posted similar stories here, here, here, and here.
...at a low dose cordycepin inhibits the uncontrolled growth and division of the cells, and at high doses it stops cells from sticking together, which also inhibits growth.
"...in Cauchi they saw an Indian man who was dressed as a woman and walking in the company of women. When Pardo asked Cauchi Orata for an explanation he said that the man was his "brother," but because he was not a man for war or for doing the things that men do, he went about as a woman and did a woman's tasks..."The illustration in the book, reproduced above, is Plate XXIII from the famous set of engravings by Jacques Le Moyne: "Timucuan male transvestites carrying packbaskets of food. Females are shown loading the packbaskets... Photo courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution."
In the depiction, Mithras, wearing a Phrygian cap and pants, slays the bull, kneeling on its back with his left knee while looking away. His cape billows behind him showing its inner side. A serpent and dog seem to drink from the bull's open wound (which often spills blood but occasionally grain), and a scorpion attacks the bull's testicles. Typically, a raven or crow is also present, and sometimes also a goblet and small lion.There is general agreement that the symbolism is astrological. More details at Wikipedia.
This is called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. Starting in late 2003, astronomers pointed Hubble at a tiny, relatively empty part of our sky (only a few stars from the Milky Way visible), and created an exposure nearly 12 days long over a four-month period. The result is this amazing image, looking back through time at thousands of galaxies that range from 1 to 13 billion light-years away from Earth. Some 10,000 galaxies were observed in this tiny patch of sky (a tenth the size of the full moon) - each galaxy a home to billions of stars.Credit NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith - STScI, and The HUDF Team, via The Big Picture.
Almost 40 years ago, researchers discovered that although it takes longer to make signs than to say the equivalent words, on average sentences can be completed in about the same time. How can that be possible?
Today, Andrew Chong and buddies at Princeton University in New Jersey give us the answer. They say that the information content of the 45 handshapes that make up sign language is higher than the information content of phonemes, the building blocks of the spoken word. In other words, there is greater redundancy in spoken English than signed English.
Further details at MIT's Technology Review, via The New Shelton wet/dry.
STEP 1: Form a bank.
STEP 2: Round up a bunch of unemployed friends to be "bankers."
STEP 3: Raise $1 billion of equity. (This is the only tricky step. And it's not that tricky. See below.*)
STEP 4: Borrow $9 billion from the Fed at an annual cost of 0.25%.
STEP 5: Buy $10 billion of 30-year Treasuries paying 4.45%
STEP 6: Sit back and watch the cash flow in.
Further details at Business Insider, via The New Shelton wet/dry.
...add up the yearly salary of a Marine from Camp Lejeune with four years of service, throw in his or her housing allowance, additional pay for dependents, and bonus pay for hazardous duty, imminent danger, and family separation, and you'll still be many thousands of dollars short of that single minute's sum...So who gets all the money? Think about it...
"Most hospital-owned clinics in south-central Wisconsin charge the fees at least some of the time, at an average of $117... Patients who are aware of the fees can sometimes avoid them by going to other clinics... But most patients don't know about the fees, and some learn about them only after receiving their bills....
Pam Charles, of Beloit, said she went to the Park Street clinic complex next to Meriter Hospital to get second and third opinions on whether she needed surgery.
For both visits, she said, she parked in the same lot and used the same elevator. On one visit, she turned right. On the other, she turned left.
Her bill for the first visit, at a clinic owned by UW Health's doctor group: $216. The bill for the other visit, at a clinic owned by Meriter: $423, including a $157 facility fee from Meriter...
Hospitals have been allowed to charge facility fees under Medicare rules for years... the fees enable hospitals to recover some of the costs of their equipment and of meeting requirements that doctors' offices don't face, such as patient safety standards...
UW and Meriter have signs, brochures and letters explaining the fees, but none of the Madison hospitals tell patients about the fees when appointments are made, the hospital officials said..."
Above text from an article at the Wisconsin State Journal. The proposed legislation will also require insurance plans to disclose to patients whether they cover facility fees.
The coroner's notes allegedly claim a pharmacopia in Murphy's bathroom cabinet: Topamax (for seizures or migraines), methylprednisolone (a steroid), fluoxetine (an antidepressant), Klonopin (for anxiety), carbamazepine (for seizures or bipolar disorder), Ativan (for anxiety), Vicoprofen (pain reliever), propranolol (for hypertension, migraines or anxiety), Biaxin (an antibiotic), and hydrocodone (a narcotic pain reliever). Gone are the days of shameful crack pipes and empty gin bottles. "No alcohol containers, paraphernalia or illegal drugs were discovered," the report stated...More at the link re "doctor shopping" and the risks of prescription drugs.
Those who had Alzheimer's at the start of the study were 69% less likely to be admitted to hospital with cancer than those free of the disease at the start.
And those with cancer at the study's start were 43% less likely to develop Alzheimer's than the cancer free.
There are biological reasons why this relationship could be causal:
"Alzheimer's disease and cancer are both characterised by abnormal, but opposing, cellular behaviour.
However, it is also possible that the symptoms of one disease may mask or prevent the diagnosis of the other disease, so more studies are necessary.
