grrlscientist | December 6, 2006
These Lower Pleistocene shells date to around 1-1.6 Myr ( Bermont formation). I collected them on a Florida Paleontological Society field trip nearly two years ago. If you were a Florida-Gulf-Coast sheller, you would recognize many of the shells as having modern representatives despite their age. There has been essentially a "freeze" on molluscan evolution in the Atlantic shell fauna since the inception of the 20 or so ice ages that have occurred in the Pleistocene. You said you were not averse to having fossils shells, so take a look. Notice the cone snails (Conus) in the strew. Nature ran…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2006It's finally here; First Anniversary Edition of Carnival of the Liberals (CotL). Once again the editor was overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of quality writing from a liberal perspective. Even though they limit CotL to only ten essays, they received more than 40 submissions to choose from for CotL #27, so making a decision on which 10 to link to was not easy . In the end, the editor decided to go with essays that touched on big picture issues in one way or another.
grrlscientist | December 6, 2006On a more serious note, I have been receiving donations from some of you to my paypal account. I am very grateful all of you and will be using these monies to purchase my meds, which are quite expensive, after I get out of the nuthouse.
I am not sure if I will ever be in a position to pay you back, or if you ever want to be paid back for your generosity but I can pay you back for your kindness by showing my appreciation to you; I would love to write an essay for you about a topic or question of your choice. I will dedicate that essay, or an issue of Birds in the News if you prefer, to you…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2006Do you remember Bill Clinton? It appears that the Vietnamese in Hanoi certainly remember him fondly because they swarmed all over him to get an autograph, photograph or a handshake. These are the same people who could barely be bothered to crawl out of bed in the morning when the current president visitied Hanoi last month.
Clinton, in town to sign an agreement between his foundation and the Vietnamese to get more AIDS drugs to children, left the Hilton Hotel in the center of Hanoi, crossed an intersection buzzing with motorbikes, and strolled toward Hoan Kiem Lake, the spiritual heart of…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2006Failed. My hair is as blonde as ever. Maybe blonder, as if that is possible.
So the saner people among you are probably wondering; Why am I trying to turn my blonde hair red? Well, in my book, which I may write, the main character will be bipolar and will change her hair color with wash-in hair colors to match her mood, so I thought I'd give it a try in real life, just to see how/if it works.
I also have bad news: I have a hole in my jeans on my ass -- right on an inner buttcheek! This is really embarassing, and I am not allowed to fix it, either. I think the staff remains convinced that I…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006Speaking as a person who is currently in a nuthouse, who has met all kinds since I've been in a nuthouse (ooo, the stories I could tell you ... !), I wonder why Bush is allowed to not only roam freely throughout our country at the taxpayers' expense, but why he is in the White House, of all places, with his finger on the red button? What am I blabbing on about? The recent interview with Brit Hume, that's what. Part of the transcript follows below the fold. (Italics are my comments).
Hume: "I've just spent some time in the company of people who were for you, who are worried about you, just as…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006
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The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.
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tags: Declaration of Independence, hemp, weird facts
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006
Adult Bald Eagle, Haliaeetus leucocephalus,
the only eagle species that is unique to North America.
Image: Dharma Bums.
The photographers, who live near my other beloved home, Seattle, wrote; I'm sure you heard we had an amazing snowfall last week. We've been taking walks along Chimacum Creek and checking out all the wildlife. It is beautiful in the winter with the snow and ice.
We've been seeing eagles a lot lately. We know their favorite trees, so can pretty much find one most days. I particularly like this snag. It's right behind some houses that hug the cliffs above Port Townsend Bay…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006I have been thinking about court a lot obviously, and finally decided that I would rescind my 72 hour letter so instead of fighting things out in court this Thursday, I will take my chances that I will be getting out of here on friendly terms in a reasonable length of time, as in 10-14 days.
Since discharge will happen sooner or later anyway, at this point, I have mixed feelings about leaving this place because I like having someone here to talk to when I awaken from a nightmare (often), and someone who checks on me to make sure I am alright, and the food is much better than what I eat on…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006Thanks to The Republican War on Science, by my friend and fellow SciBling, Chris Mooney, I have found a word that takes on more forms in a sentence than any other I've shown to you so far. Chris's book was recently released in the more affordable and updated trade paperback. I am nearly finished with this book and will be reviewing it in the future, after I am sprung from the nuthouse. (I lack consistsent computer access right now necessary to do serious writing).
prima facie (PRAY-muh FEY-shee-ee, FEY-shee, FEY-shuh, PREE-) [Origin: Middle English, manifestly, from Latin prÄ«mÄ faciÄ : prÄ«…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006The state of Maine is barring the sale of a particular beer because its label (pictured) depicts Santa Claus's butt. Considering that "Santa's Butt Beer" is the name of the product, it is difficult to believe that the label is in anyway inappropriate.
Fortunately, the Shelton Brothers, who brew and sell the beer, filed a complaint with the Maine Bureau of Liquor Enforcement of censorship for denying their applications for labels for Santa's Butt Winter Porter and two other beers it wants to sell in Maine. The fight is similar another squabble filed last year, when Connecticut told Shelton…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006I just thought I'd let you all know -- while I still can -- that my captors are restricting my computer usage to 90 minutes per day. To say the least, I am depressed as all hell about this because I won't be able to provide as much new content for you as I have been recently and also because I won't have as much time to respond to your comments and emails.
In short, to use their terminology, I think this move on their part is NOT THERAPEUTIC. They have cruelly removed my voice, denied my ability to express myself. This action is also offensive because I've never caused a problem for anyone…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2006After comparing the brains of hummingbirds to those of other birds, scientists found that a specific nucleus (in this case, a "nucleus" refers to a distinct brain region) that detects any movement of the entire visual world. They found that this brain nuclei was two to five times bigger in the hummingbird than in any other species, relative to brain size.
"We reasoned that this nucleus helps the hummingbird stay stationary in space, even while they're flying," said said Doug Wong-Wylie, Canada Research Chair in Behavioural and Systems Neuroscience and psychology professor at the University…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2006Speaking of genitalia .. muslim women are now allowed to keep theirs intact. Finally, ten of the highest ranked muslim scholars from all over the world met under the patronage of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, Prof. Dr. Ali Goma'a at the Azhar University on 22-23 November. After listening to several international physicians, they pronounced the sensational decision to classify the custom of female genital mutilation (FGM) as punishable aggression and crime against humanity. As a result, female genital mutilation can no longer be practiced by Muslims. Now awareness of this decision has to be spread…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2006Scientists in Germany say they are developing a spray-on condom. They are developing a spray can into which the man inserts his penis. Then, with the push of a button, the penis is coated with a rubber condom.
"It works by spraying on latex from nozzles on all sides," he said. "We call it the '360 degree procedure' - once round and from top to bottom. It's a bit like a car wash."
A spray-on condom that is like a car wash for your favorite penis!
Jan Vinzenz Krause, from the Institute for Condom Consultancy, said it would be perfect for men of all sizes.
"We're trying to develop the perfect…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2006
A Pelican in the Swan
The Pelican Nebula lies about 2,000 light-years away in the high flying constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Also known as IC 5070, this cosmic pelican is appropriately found just off the "east coast" of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), another surprisingly familiar looking emission nebula in Cygnus. The Pelican and North America nebulae are part of the same large and complex star forming region, almost as nearby as the better-known Orion Nebula. From our vantage point, dark dust clouds (upper left) help define the Pelican's eye and long bill, while a bright front of…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2006Here is another fine word from The Republican War on Science, by my friend and fellow SciBling, Chris Mooney. This book was recently released in the more affordable trade paperback. If you haven't read this book yet, now is the time (I've read it once already in hard-cover, but never reviewed it, so I am going to rectify that oversight in the near future by reviewing this updated paperback).
Anathema (uh-NATH-uh-muh) [Origin: Lation, from Greek: a thing accursed, devoted to evil, originally . devoted, equivalent to ana(ti)thé(nai) to set up + -ma n. suffix)]
noun
a person or thing…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2006Do you remember Ken Starr? Well, having failed to convict Bill Clinton of a blow job, Kenny Starr is now helping an Alaska school board attack the 1st Amendment against high-school senior, Joseph Frederick, in the "kids will be kids" escapade, the infamous "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" banner case -- and Starr is doing it free of charge.
Click here to see this evil, evil banner in its own window.
Frederick was suspended in 2002 after he unfurled the 14-foot-long banner -- a reference to marijuana use -- just outside school grounds as the Olympic torch relay moved through the Alaskan capital headed…
grrlscientist | December 4, 2006Botlon will step down from his UN ambassadorship soon and now the National Review is supporting Rick Santorum as our next UN Ambassador??
Santorum speaks (He's a rather windy chap, isn't he?).