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#Post#: 591--------------------------------------------------
Why Did Pirates Wear An Eyepatch?
By: AGelbert Date: December 21, 2013, 12:04 am
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Why Did Pirates Wear An Eyepatch if They Did Not Have an Injury?
[img width=100
height=100]
HTML http://www.websmileys.com/sm/aliens/hae51.gif[/img]
It is thought that the reason pirates would wear an eyepatch
even if they did not have an eye injury was to help their eyes
adjust to going back and forth between light and dark. It
typically takes the eyes 25 minutes to adjust to seeing in the
dark because they must regenerate photopigments, which send
visual signals to the brain. Pirates would often have to go
quickly from being in the dark below the decks of their ships to
being on the sunlit ship decks. Wearing an eyepatch would allow
a pirate to switch the eye patch to the other side when moving
between locations and bypass the 25-minute adjustment period.
[img width=100
height=100]
HTML http://www.pic4ever.com/images/pirates5B15D_th.gif[/img]
More about pirates:
•Early 18th-century pirate Black Bart is thought to have
captured more than 400 ships, the most of any pirate.
•Although legend has it that pirates would often bury treasure,
historians claim that pirates typically used most of their
stolen goods to purchase women and alcohol. In fact,
entrepreneurs at popular ports were known to set up shops that
catered to pirates.
•In the 1670s, pirate Henry Morgan served as governor of
Jamaica, and he even helped prosecute other pirates during his
administration. ;D
HTML http://www.wisegeek.com/why-did-pirates-wear-an-eyepatch-if-they-did-not-have-an-injury.htm
#Post#: 612--------------------------------------------------
With only 4% of US farmland, California is one of the top agricu
ltural producers
By: AGelbert Date: December 23, 2013, 10:55 pm
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How Big Is California’s Agricultural Sector?
California’s agricultural sector is the largest in the US in
terms of food production, with more than 450 types of crops
produced in the state — many of them being exclusive to the
state. Total agricultural sales in California were more than $44
billion US Dollars (USD) in 2012, up 3% from 2011. Milk took in
the most money, at more than $6 billion USD, followed by grapes
and almonds at more than $4 billion USD each. In addition to
having one of the top agricultural sectors in the US,
California also is the world's No. 5 supplier of agricultural
commodities, including food and cotton fiber.
More about California agriculture:
•Only 4% of the farmland in the US is located in California,
even though it is one of the top agricultural producers in the
country.
•California is the only US state that produces almonds, and it
is the top almond exporter in the world.
•About 90% of the wine made in the US is made in California, and
the state is the No. 4 producer of wine worldwide.
HTML http://www.wisegeek.com/how-big-is-californias-agricultural-sector.htm
#Post#: 630--------------------------------------------------
Re: Non-routine News
By: AGelbert Date: December 27, 2013, 6:42 pm
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[img width=640
height=380]
HTML http://www.leaguelineup.com/vermonticestorm/vermonticestorm_logo.gif[/img]
[img width=640
height=380]
HTML http://cmsimg.burlingtonfreepress.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=BT&Date=20131226&Category=NEWS02&ArtNo=312260032&Ref=AR&MaxW=640&Border=0&Be-cautious-around-ice-damaged-trees[/img]
Ice Storm hits Agelbert. We had a full two inches of solid ice
on EVERYTHING outside (except the tree branches that have a
quarter inch of pretty, sparkly ice glaze encasing them).
The car was stuck in the driveway and required warming up and
turing the wheels left and right to free from the ice. Nobody
here has ever seen that thick of an ice layer. The town went
nuts throwing sand around because the plows couldn't get down to
the road surface and it was too cold for the salt to work for a
couple of days. They did eventually throw a LOT of salt out
there too.
[img width=640
height=380]
HTML http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/8RwCZi0QSKQ/maxresdefault.jpg[/img]
Colchester’s Weekly Town News
For the Week Ending December 27, 2013
Colchester, Vermont Public Works Department—Bryan Osborne,
Director Week ending December
In the aftermath of Winter Storm Gemini, we thought the
following information would be of interest:
Statistics
Storm duration: 60 hours from Friday noon to Monday noon
Weather conditions: icing and sub-freezing temperatures
Miles of public roads maintained: 90 miles
Miles of private roads maintained: 20 miles
Miles of sidewalks/paths maintained: 37 miles
Number of parking lots maintained: 6
Number of snow maintenance personnel available: 10
Maintenance staff overtime: 226 hours
Supervisor non-paid overtime: 38 hours
Fuel consumption: 924 gallons
Salt usage: 232 tons
For further information or comment, please call June Campbell at
264-5509.
HTML http://colchestervt.gov/
[img]
HTML http://mlkshk.com/r/3CER[/img]
[img width=320
height=480]
HTML http://www.wptz.com/image/view/-/22813420/highRes/1/-/maxh/460/maxw/620/-/hi6m7gz/-/Kathleen-Cook.jpg[/img]
BURLINGTON, Vt. —A death certificate indicates that the
University of Vermont's associate director of residential life
whose body was found in a house fire died of a self-inflicted
gunshot wound.
Kathleen Cook's body was found Thursday morning during an early
morning fire at an on-campus home owned by the university.
The Burlington Free Press reports that the cause of the fire has
not been released.
Cook had worked at the university for 16 years and was described
as a devoted educator.
HTML http://www.wptz.com/news/vermont-new-york/burlington/university-of-vermont-staff-member-dies-in-suicide/-/8869880/22813272/-/13vyo0l/-/index.html#ixzz2oivNsyXy
Dr. Kathleen M. Cook
Kathy Cook helped make UVM a welcoming place for everyone
By Katy Cardin, News Editor
Published: Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Dr. Kathleen Cook’s legacy at UVM began 24 years ago and will
continue on as members of the UVM community remember her
inspirational disposition and kind spirit.
Known more fondly as “Kathy” among her friends and colleagues,
the 45-year-old associate director for Residential Life at the
University died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in her South
Prospect Street home that caught on fire last Thursday,
according to Police Services.
Cook began what would become a long stay at UVM when she
completed her bachelor’s degree in 1991, followed by her
master’s of education in 1995 and then her doctorate in
education in 2010, according to a University-wide email sent by
President Tom Sullivan and Vice Provost for Student Affairs
Annie Stevens on Thursday.
“Kathy approached her work with students and student
organizations with an infectious vitality that challenged
individuals to learn from their experience while also building
communities within UVM,”
Director of Student Life Pat Brown said. “Her friendliness and
approachability was a pure invitation to students to seek her
counsel. As a colleague and friend she will be missed.”
Cook was a Student Affairs staff member for the past 16 years.
Before she was the associate director for Residential Life, she
worked in the Department of Student Life as the assistant
director for leadership programs, Brown said.
As president of the Inter Residential Association (IRA), senior
Joe Oteng said he was able to work with Cook at various IRA
events and often talked with her on campus.
Oteng said Cook was highly involved with and passionate about
solving racial issues that occurred between Resident Assistants
and campus residents.
“From a student perspective, I think her legacy will be in
challenging students to think about how they relate to students
of color in a predominantly white community like UVM, and how
questions of identity and race can contribute to a better living
community for everyone,” he said.
In fact, Vice President for Executive Operations Gary Derr sent
a University-wide email on Thursday stating that Cook’s
dissertation for her doctorate was titled “Diversity Training:
Moving White Resident Assistants Forward or Backward in their
Racial Identity Development.”
Residential Life staff member Carrie Wicks said she feels Cook
truly embraced her position as associate director, and was able
to make a positive impact on everyone she worked with because of
that.
“She gave us freedom to be angry, strong, weak, creative,
confused, lost and loved every step of the way,” Wicks said.
“She cared deeply about everything she did and created...she was
an innovated [sic] leader and woman. I admired her, we all did.”
Cook’s professional achievements did not stop at Residential
Life. She was also the Area Coordinator for First-Year
Experience for LGBTQ, working with first-years who identify as
LGBTQ.
In their letter, Sullivan and Stevens extended condolences to
the University community as well as to Cook’s family, friends
and colleagues.
“A devoted educator, mentor, colleague, and friend, Kathy
touched the lives of many students, staff, and faculty,” the
Oct. 31 email read. “Her absence will be felt profoundly across
the University.”
Following a status update on the University of Vermont Facebook
page relaying the email sent by Sullivan and Stevens, multiple
people responded by sharing their feelings and condolences.
“So sad to hear this news. Kathy was such a nice person. She has
done a lot of good for UVM and students. Rest in peace friend,”
William A Moultan III wrote.
A memorial service will be held for Cook at 4 p.m. Nov. 6 in Ira
Allen Chapel.
By Katy Cardin
HTML http://www.vermontcynic.com/news/dr-kathleen-m-cook-1.2845173#.Ur4YT8KA3m4
Agelbert NOTE: When we have a society where a person covers up
their agony with a happy face, is consumed by that agony to the
point of suicide, and then is lovingly remembered for HAVING
SUCH A PEPPY, HAPPY FACE, ACCEPTING AND HELPING DISPOSITION
([color=red]a big act!) by the society that destroyed her
without a HINT that, uh, maybe there is something WRONG with our
society if a person with a doctorate in PEOPLE skills offs
herself, you know we are really in la la land denial about our
failed society. Denial of flaws is the national sport.
Vermonters are quite good at it.
That's why things continue to deteriorate. If people don't even
recognize they have a society based, not individual based,
problem, the problem will worsen. Vermont in general, and UVM
academic SOCIETY in particular, FAILED to give Kathy Cook the
strength she needed to go on living. :( So it goes. [/color]
#Post#: 631--------------------------------------------------
Re: Non-routine News
By: AGelbert Date: December 27, 2013, 7:20 pm
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[img width=640
height=380]
HTML http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XPd9ipgRXn0/UbPGxCAkLII/AAAAAAAARdM/x-KQCJVFGA0/s1600/02+Shakespeare+Factoids.png[/img]
Did Shakespeare Really Invent New Words?
English playwright William Shakespeare invented new words in the
16th and 17th centuries that became commonly used in modern
English, with an estimated 1,700 words whose origins are traced
back to his works.
Shakespeare did not necessarily come up with completely new
words, but rather he tended to add prefixes or suffixes to
already established words or change nouns into verbs, or vice
versa. Examples of words first used in Shakespeare’s works
include assassination, disheartened, inaudible and
uncomfortable.
Some historians believe that Shakespeare might not have been the
one to invent the words but simply was the first to record words
that previously had been used only orally.
[img width=640
height=380]
HTML http://englishwithatwist.com/ShanthiBlog/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Shakespeare-Plays.jpg[/img]
More about William Shakespeare:
Shakespeare was an entrepreneur who made money off lucrative
real estate investments. Some historians believe this is why he
was able to spend so much time writing.
There is a period of seven years of Shakespeare’s life after the
birth of his twins in 1585 during which there are no records of
him and are referred to as “the lost years.” It is not known
what he was doing at that time.
Shakespeare has no descendants because his only grandchild, a
granddaughter named Elizabeth, died in 1670 without having
children.
HTML http://www.wisegeek.com/did-shakespeare-really-invent-new-words.htm
Worst Diseases in Shakespeare's London
From a disease standpoint, Shakespeare was living in arguably
the worst place and time in history. Shakespeare's overcrowded,
rat-infested, sexually promiscuous London, with raw sewage
flowing in the Thames, was the hub for the nastiest diseases
known to mankind. Here are the worst of the worst.
1. Plague
It is little surprise that the plague was the most dreaded
disease of Shakespeare's time. Carried by fleas living on the
fur of rats, the plague swept through London in 1563, 1578-9,
1582, 1592-3, and 1603 (Singman, 52). The outbreaks in 1563 and
1603 were the most ferocious, each wiping out over one quarter
of London's population.
Lucky Elizabethans would contract the basic bubonic plague with
their odds of survival around fifty percent. Symptoms would
include red, grossly inflamed and swollen lymph nodes, called
buboes (hence the name bubonic), high fever, delirium, and
convulsions.
However, if the bacterial infection spread to the lungs
(pneumonic plague) or to the bloodstream (septicemic plague) the
unfortunate victim would certainly die, usually within hours
with symptoms too horrific to recount.
The Elizabethan pamphleteer Thomas Dekker wrote a chilling
account of the chaos and despair brought by the plague:
[quote]Imagine then that all this while, Death (like a Spanish
Leagar, or rather like stalking Tamberlaine) hath pitched his
tents, (being nothing but a heape of winding sheets tacked
together) in the sinfully-polluted Suburbes:
the Plague is Muster-maister and Marshall of the field: Burning
Feauers, Boyles, Blaines, and Carbuncles, the Leaders,
Lieutenants, Serieants, and Corporalls:
the maine Army consisting (like Dunkirke) of a mingle-mangle,
viz. dumpish Mourners, merry Sextons, hungry Coffin-sellers,
scrubbing Bearers, and nastie Graue-makers:
but indeed they are the Pioners of the Campe, that are imployed
onely (like Moles) in casting up of earth and digging of
trenches;
Feare and Trembling (the two catch-polles of Death) arrest every
one: No parley will be graunted, no composition stood vpon, But
the Allarum is strucke up, the Toxin ringes out for life, and no
voice heard but Tue, Tue, Kill, Kill. (The Wonderful Yeare,
1603)[/quote]
During the outbreak of 1592-93, the Crown ordered the complete
closure of all theatres in London. Shakespeare, then working
with Lord Strange’s Men at the Rose theatre, would have been in
the midst of a run of his Henry VI history plays (Bradbrook,
65), and likely financially devastated by the edict.
Shakespeare mentions plague in several plays, including The
Tempest (1.2.426), Timon of Athens (4.3.120), and King Lear:
But yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter;
Or rather a disease that's in my flesh,
Which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil,
A plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle,
In my corrupted blood.
(2.4.242), Lear, describing his daughter, Goneril
Shakespeare also describes the act of searching out plague
victims and quarantining them in Romeo and Juliet (5.2.7).
Incidentally, plague is the indirect cause of the deaths of the
star-cross'd lovers.
2. Smallpox
One of the worst outbreaks of smallpox occurred two years
before Shakespeare's birth, in 1562. Queen Elizabeth herself,
then 29, was attacked by the virus that causes high fever,
vomiting, excessive bleeding, and pus-filled scabs that leave
deep pitted scars. Although the Queen recovered she was rendered
completely bald and forced to wear an extra thick layer of
make-up made from white lead and egg whites.
3. Syphilis
Syphilis, one of the deadliest of all venereal diseases, spread
rapidly throughout Europe in the 15th century. A current theory
on the origin of the outbreak argues that Spaniards carried the
disease home from the Americas in 1493. Elizabethans had many
names for this foul malady; the most popular being the French
pox, the Spanish sickness, the great pox, and simply, the pox.
Without antibiotics, Elizabethans would have experienced the
full effects of syphilis, which included raging fever (referred
to as "burnt blood"), tortuous body aches, blindness, full body
pustules, meningitis, insanity, and leaking heart valves, known
today as aortic regurgitation. According to a document written
in 1585 by the famed Elizabethan barber-surgeon William Clowes,
the victims of syphilis were so numerous that London hospitals
had no room for the "infinite multitude."
Interestingly, Shakespeare's most famous mention of disease: A
plague on both your houses!" (Romeo and Juliet), was, in the
original printing of the play (the first quarto), "A pox of your
houses" (3.1.60).
Shakespeare mentions syphilis often in his work and in Timon of
Athens he alludes to the calamitous Elizabethan treatment of
syphilis: the inhalation of vaporized mercury salts:
Give them diseases, leaving with thee their lust.
Make use of thy salt hours: season the slaves.
For tubs and baths; bring down rose-cheeked youth.
To the tub-fast and the diet. (4.3)
4. Typhus
Epidemics of louse-borne typhus ravaged London several times
during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. Crowded, filthy
conditions and a near total lack of bathing made room for body
lice, which, when scratched, would defecate on a person's skin.
It would take just one minor cut or sore for the typhus infected
feces to enter the victim's bloodstream, and soon high fever,
delirium, and gangrenous sores would develop.
The disease was a huge problem among prisoners. The poor
wretches, most of them beggars, drunks, petty thieves and
pamphleteers, who found themselves in the Newgate jail, would
typically die before they could serve their full sentences.
Shakespeare felt their pain:
If we mean to thrive and do good, break open the gaols and let
out the prisoners. (2 Henry VI, 4.3.15)
Although we will likely never know what really caused
Shakespeare's own death, a serious outbreak of typhus in 1616
lends credibility to the story that he succumbed to a fever.
5. Malaria
Known to the Elizabethans as ague, Malaria was a common malady
spread by the mosquitoes in the marshy Thames. The swampy
theatre district of Southwark was always at risk. King James I
had it; so too did Shakespeare’s friend, Michael Drayton.
Without antimalarial medications, many Londoners would have
experienced dreadful symptoms, including fever, unbearable
chills, vomiting, enlarged liver, low blood pressure, seizures,
and coma.
Shakespeare's characters speak often of ague. A common belief
was that the sun spread the fever by sucking up the vapors from
the marshes. In The Tempest, Caliban describes the process while
cursing Prospero:
All the infections that the sun sucks up
From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall and make him
By inch-meal a disease!
(2.2)
So too does Hotspur in 1 Henry IV:
Worse than the sun in March,
This praise doth nourish agues. (4.1)
The facts are mind-boggling, especially when you consider that
London's population hovered around a mere 150,000 during
Shakespeare's lifetime. It is little wonder that the average
life expectancy was 35 years.
How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda. Worst Diseases in Shakespeare's London.
Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. <
HTML http://www.shakespeare-online.com/biography/londondisease.html<br
/>>.
Here's a humorous ten minute history of the English language
which includes Shakespeare's contributions. [img width=40
height=40]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-051113192052.png[/img]<br
/>
HTML http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rexKqvgPVuA&feature=player_embedded<br
/>
#Post#: 671--------------------------------------------------
Milky Way Galaxy Has Four Spiral Arms, New Study Confirms
By: AGelbert Date: January 6, 2014, 9:33 pm
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Milky Way Galaxy Has Four Spiral Arms, New Study Confirms
Dec 29, 2013 by Sci-News.com
A 12-year study published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society has confirmed that our Milky Way Galaxy has
four spiral arms, following years of debate that it has only two
arms.
[img width=640
height=580]
HTML http://cdn4.sci-news.com/images/enlarge/image_1649e-Milky-Way-Arms.jpg[/img]
Galactic distribution of massive young stars and compact and
ultra-compact H II regions with luminosities greater than
10^4 times that of the Sun. The map shows the positions of the
complexes and individual sources as red and blue circles,
respectively.
The sizes of the markers give an indication of their
luminosity, as depicted in the upper-right corner. The position
of the Sun [img width=30
height=30]
HTML http://www.createaforum.com/gallery/renewablerevolution/3-141113185850.gif[/img]<br
/>is shown by the small circle above the Galactic Centre . The t
wo
solid lines enclose the Galactic Center region that was excluded
from survey due to problems with source confusion and distance
determination.
The smaller of the two dot–dashed circles represents the locus
of tangent points, while the larger circle shows the radius of
the solar circle. Image credit: Urquhart JS et al / Robert Hurt,
the Spitzer Science Center / Robert Benjamin.
“The Milky Way is our galactic home and studying its structure
gives us a unique opportunity to understand how a very typical
spiral galaxy works in terms of where stars are born and why,”
said co-author Prof Melvin Hoare from the University of Leeds.
In the 50s, astronomers used radio telescopes to map the Milky
Way. Their observations focused on clouds of gas in the Galaxy
in which new stars are born, revealing four major spiral arms.
In 2008, scientists using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope scoured
our Galaxy for infrared light emitted by stars. They revealed
about 110 million stars, but only evidence of two spiral arms.
The astronomers behind the new study used several radio
telescopes to individually observe about 1,650 massive stars in
the Galaxy. The distances and luminosities of these stars were
calculated, revealing a distribution across four spiral arms.
“It isn’t a case of our results being right and those from
Spitzer’s data being wrong – both surveys were looking for
different things. Spitzer only sees much cooler, lower mass
stars – stars like our Sun – which are much more numerous than
the massive stars that we were targeting,” Prof Hoare said.
Massive stars are much less common than their lower mass
counterparts because they only live for a short time – about 10
million years. The shorter lifetimes of massive stars means that
they are only found in the arms in which they formed, which
could explain the discrepancy in the number of galactic arms
that different research teams have claimed.
“Lower mass stars live much longer than massive stars and rotate
around our Galaxy many times, spreading out in the disc. The
gravitational pull in the two stellar arms that Spitzer revealed
is enough to pile up the majority of stars in those arms, but
not in the other two. However, the gas is compressed enough in
all four arms to lead to massive star formation,” Prof Hoare
said.
“It’s exciting that we are able to use the distribution of young
massive stars to probe the structure of the Milky Way and match
the most intense region of star formation with a model with four
spiral arms,” said lead author Dr James Urquhart of the Max
Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany.
______
Urquhart JS et al. The RMS survey: galactic distribution of
massive star formation. MNRAS 437 (2): 1791-1807; doi:
10.1093/mnras/stt2006
HTML http://www.sci-news.com/astronomy/science-milky-way-galaxy-four-spiral-arms-01649.html
#Post#: 709--------------------------------------------------
Mekong River Mystery: Fireballs caused, according to legend, by
a Mythical Snake
By: AGelbert Date: January 20, 2014, 6:36 pm
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Is There a River In Thailand that Emits Fireballs? ???
[img width=640
height=480]
HTML http://files.abovetopsecret.com/files/img/av500d7950.jpg[/img]
There is a river in Thailand that emits fireballs, referred to
as Naga’s Fireballs. The phenomenon takes place in the Nong Khai
province along the Mekong River has occurred each year for
hundreds of years.
On the 11th lunar month, coinciding with the end of the Buddhist
Lent, pink, red and orange fireballs jump from the river into
the sky for about three days, and the occasion is celebrated
with a festival. Legend states that the fireballs are caused by
a mythical serpent creature from the river, but scientists
believe they could be the result of heated gas being released
from decomposed plants and animals on the bottom of the river.
More about the Mekong River:
The Mekong River runs for 2,610 miles (4,200 km) in Southeast
Asia, from China to Vietnam.
Fish from this river are estimated to provide the main source of
protein for nearly 50 million people in Southeast Asia.
The Mekong River Commission has stated that building
hydroelectric dams in the river would provide as much as 8% of
the area’s energy needs by 2025, but critics argue that dams
could cut the fish supply by as much as half.
HTML http://www.wisegeek.com/is-there-a-river-in-thailand-that-emits-fireballs.htm
#Post#: 710--------------------------------------------------
Mystery Rock 'Appears' in Front of Mars Rover
By: AGelbert Date: January 20, 2014, 6:41 pm
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Mystery Rock 'Appears' in Front of Mars Rover :o
Jan 17, 2014 05:31 AM ET // by Ian O'Neill
After a decade of exploring the Martian surface, the scientists
overseeing veteran rover Opportunity thought they’d seen it all.
That was until a rock mysteriously “appeared” a few feet in
front of the six wheeled rover a few days
ago.
HTML http://www.coh2.org/images/Smileys/huhsign.gif
News of the errant rock was announced by NASA Mars Exploration
Rover lead scientist Steve Squyres of Cornell University at a
special NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory “10 years of roving Mars”
event at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech),
Pasadena, Calif., on Thursday night. The science star-studded
public event was held in celebration of the decade since twin
rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on the Red Planet in
January 2004.
PHOTOS: Alien Robots That Left Their Mark on Mars
While chronicling the scientific discoveries made by both rovers
over the years, Squyres discussed the recent finding of
suspected gypsum near the rim of Endeavour Crater — a region of
Meridiani Planum that Opportunity has been studying since 2011 —
and the discovery of clays that likely formed in a pH-neutral
wet environment in Mars past. While these discoveries have been
nothing short of groundbreaking, Squyres shared the Mars rover’s
team’s excitement for that one strange rock, exclaiming: “Mars
keeps throwing new stuff at us!”
In a comparison of recent photographs captured by the rover’s
panoramic camera, or Pancam, on sol 3528 of the mission, only
bare bedrock can be seen. But on sol 3540, a fist-sized rock had
appeared (raw Pancam images can be found in the mission
archive). MER scientists promptly nicknamed the object “Pinnacle
Island.”
“It’s about the size of a jelly doughnut,” Squyres told
Discovery News. “It was a total surprise, we were like ‘wait a
second, that wasn’t there before, it can’t be right. Oh my god!
It wasn’t there before!’ We were absolutely startled.”
But the rover didn’t roll over that area, so where did Pinnacle
Island come from? ???
[img width=640
height=480]
HTML http://doubtfulnewscom.c.presscdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/pinnacle-island-mars-rock.png[/img]
[quote]A comparison of two raw Pancam photographs from sols 3528
and 3540 of Opportunity's mission (a sol is a Martian day).
Notice the "jelly doughnut"-sized rock in the center of the
photograph to the right. Minor adjustments for brightness and
contrast.
NASA/JPL-Caltech[/quote]
HTML http://news.discovery.com/space/mystery-rock-appears-in-front-of-mars-rover-140117.htm#mkcpgn=fbsci1
HTML http://news.discovery.com/space/mystery-rock-appears-in-front-of-mars-rover-140117.htm#mkcpgn=fbsci1
[img width=640
height=980]
HTML http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/253/2/1/marvin_the_martian_by_houndknight-d2yfv4q.jpg[/img]
[move]If you liked that rock, you'll LOVE my NEXT
trick...[/move]
#Post#: 738--------------------------------------------------
Vermont Stories and Historical Gossip BEFORE GLOBAL WARMING
By: AGelbert Date: January 29, 2014, 7:28 pm
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[img width=440
height=280]
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Vermont Stories and Historical Gossip BEFORE GLOBAL WARMING.
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[quote]Although it may not be obvious to the casual observer,
the population of the State of Vermont can be sorted into two
distinct types:
1.Those people whose families have lived in Vermont since it was
settled and whose family folklore includes tales of the great
Republic of Vermont, when Vermont was an Independent Country,
and who have never quite forgiven Ethan Allen for agreeing to
join the Union despite all of his other fine accomplishments.
These people, who will subsequently be referred to as "Native
Vermonters", are hardy and hard working, straightforward and
straight talking, and are the foundation of everything that
makes Vermont great. They are also almost, but not quite,
completely invisible in the current Vermont landscape.
2.Everyone else, who will subsequently be referred to as
"Flatlanders." Flatlanders are sometimes called "New Yorkers" by
older Native Vermonters.
Vermont has always had a population of Flatlanders: those who've
moved to Vermont from somewhere else because Vermont "is such a
nice place." In recent years those who pay attention to the
media might conclude that Flatlanders have taken over the entire
State. It is true that important Towns like Montpelier (the
State capital) and Burlington (a self-styled major metropolitan
city) are almost, but not quite, exclusively populated by
Flatlanders.
Native Vermonters quite sensibly regard the current large
numbers of Flatlanders to be a temporary phenomenon and have the
attitude of "This Too Shall Pass." Like mud season. ;D They
know that as soon as it appears to the Flatlanders that Vermont
has somehow, despite all their progressive efforts
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/>become "just like everywhere else", they will move away in
droves. Perhaps leaving behind a few people, who might after a
few generations be considered "Newcomers" ;) to Vermont by the
Natives and occupy that wide gray area between the two
solitudes, so to speak.
This book reveals for the first time the true History of Vermont
as maintained by Native Vermonters. 8) When the influx of
Flatlanders started to become chronic Native Vermonters agreed
in a series of Town Meetings to conceal some of the more
interesting episodes of Vermont History by the simple and
expedient method of denying knowledge of any such thing and
implying that the questioner was a few cows short of a herd. ;D
This tactic was incredibly successful and centuries of Vermont
History were hidden this way. The truth of this remarkable
assertion can be demonstrated at any time by finding an older
person in Vermont (Flatlanders without exception move to Florida
once their joints reach a certain age and temperature) and
asking that person whether he or she has heard of the events
described in this book. The answer will invariably be "No."
followed by something on the order of "What's the weather like
on the planet you come from?" ;D
How did the author, who moved to Vermont from California, learn
of this secret history? The answer is that he inadvertently
acquired two undeniable attributes of Native Vermontership as
follows:
1.He purchased property in a Town in which the terrain goes
uphill in both directions. (Admittedly this is not a difficult
feat in Vermont.)
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2.He built and occupied a one-room log cabin with just a wood
stove and without utility power for an entire Vermont winter
(11.5 months). [img width=30
height=30]
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/>Actually he did this for two entire Vermont winters in a row b
ut
no one noticed because it's extremely difficult for anyone, even
Native Vermonters, to determine when one Vermont winter ends and
the next one begins. ;D
One day after walking uphill (of course
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in the snow for
hours into Town for a breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup the
other people in the Town Restaurant began to talk about strange
events in his presence. After several more days of walking
uphill (of course
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in the snow for
hours into Town for a breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup the
author began to piece together the incredible Secret History of
Vermont. ;)
Why is the author willing to reveal these incredible truths? The
answer is that if he publishes a book and someone actually buys
it then all those breakfasts become tax-deductible as a research
expense. Free food!
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/>Everyone has their price when it comes to betraying deep
secrets. That's mine.
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SNIPPETS:
The word "Vermont" derives from Olde Neanderthale but modern day
scholars are divided as to its precise meaning. Some say that it
comes from "ver mont" which in Olde Neanderthale means "Heaven
on Earth" but others insist that it really comes from "verm ont"
which means "Any place that if you stay there during the winter
you must have rocks in your head." Olde Neanderthale is a very
pithy language.
Back in the days when the U.S. Federal Government was
disorganized and inefficient (1789 to date) it often had
difficulty maintaining an adequate supply of currency.
The problem with cows is that they are large and difficult to
store.
The problem of keeping the paddlewheel boats running during the
winter was solved in a typical Vermont fashion. Instead of
trying to keep the water channels open, the paddlewheels were
affixed with chains, the entire boat was mounted on sled
runners, and a snowplow was attached to the front. As a result,
the paddlewheel boats ran considerably faster on the ice during
the winter than they did in the water during the summer. The
summer slowdown was tolerated because it typically only lasted
15 days.
Vermont is unique among the states in that it has two completely
independent State governments. The first, known as the Vermont
State Government, has no bureaucrats, has levied no taxes, and
is of the opinion that it isn't the government's place to go
around telling people what to do. It has the highest approval
ratings of any governmental organization in the observed
universe. The other is known as the Montpelier Legislature whose
motto is, "Pass six unenforceable regulations before breakfast."
Because it is a major cause of pain and suffering the Montpelier
Legislature occasionally proposes a bill outlawing Death and is
puzzled each time when the idea is solidly rejected by the
citizens. This is because the citizens have seen that Death is
practically the only way a member of the Montpelier Legislature
can be persuaded to give up his or her seat.
During the right time of year a visitor to Vermont cannot help
but to be astonished at the amount of acreage devoted to growing
corn. A simple calculation shows that during its 15 day growing
season Vermont grows enough corn to feed all of Asia and Africa
for several years. Where does all this corn go?
Some of it is fed to cows. Cows are no longer legal tender but
cows give milk that can be made into Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream
which is legal tender in most parts of the world. Some of the
corn is converted into whisky most of which is discretely
exported to foreign places like Kentucky and Tennessee.
The Vermont Libertarian Mountain Lion
Unlike moose, which are officially everywhere, mountain lions
officially don't exist. There hasn't been a proved sighting of a
mountain lion by a certified official for over a hundred years.
Occasionally someone will claim they've seen a mountain lion, or
catamount as they're sometimes called by Native Vermonters, but
the evidence is never enough to survive the so-called trial by
immersion in a Montpelier manure pit.
The Vermont Tin Pecker
The absence of the usual clue, warmer weather, makes it
difficult to tell when spring is coming to Vermont. Nevertheless
there are a few signs well known to all Vermonters. When people
all over the State are awakened half an hour before the alarm
clock by the vigorous percussion of a diamond-hard beak on
chimney pipe or roof flashing then you can tell that the
springtime mating season of the Vermont Tin Pecker has begun.
Radiocarbon Dating
It's not that Vermont isn't full of jokers. (Drive a car with
out-of-state plates and ask directions from someone in Vermont
sometime. Please!) It's just that the conclusion that every
single Vermont archaeology student independently decides to pull
exactly the same prank is one that only an Archaeology Professor
or Radiocarbon Lab Owner would come to.
The other conclusion, that the canning jar racks in grandma's
basement are 30,000 years old, is one of those things that's so
completely and totally obvious that the maintainers of the
Secret History don't have the slightest worry of it ever being
discovered
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#Post#: 740--------------------------------------------------
Re: Non-routine News
By: Surly1 Date: January 30, 2014, 5:02 am
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Vermont humor is pretty damned dry, isn't it?
#Post#: 741--------------------------------------------------
Re: Non-routine News
By: AGelbert Date: January 30, 2014, 1:19 pm
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YEP. This place is probably where the term "deadpan" came from.
;D
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