Clients at the hospital prepared eggs for the holiday
11 April 2012
10 April 2012
09 April 2012
links to legal issues
From ALTERNET
7 Rules for Recording Police
Things you should and shouldn't do when armed with a camera against the police.
The law in 38 states plainly allows citizens to record police, as long as you don’t physically interfere with their work. Police might still unfairly harass you, detain you, or confiscate your camera. They might even arrest you for some catchall misdemeanor such as obstruction of justice or disorderly conduct. But you will not be charged for illegally recording police.
Rule #1: Know the Law (Wherever You Are); Rule #2: Don’t Secretly Record Police; Rule #3: Respond to “Things Cops Say”; Rule #4: Don’t Share Your Video with Police; Rule #5: Prepare to be Arrested; Rule #6: Master Your Technology; Rule #7: Don’t Point Your Camera Like a Gun.
Read the rest of the DETAILS and be forearmed.
From FINDLAW
Can the government seize my property without paying me?
From 1970 to early 2000, police who even suspected you of committing a crime such as drug dealing or terrorism could seize any property that might have been involved, whether it was a car, an airplane, a boat, or a house.
After a seven-year legislative battle over civil forfeitures, Congress amended that law. Since May 2000, the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act prohibits the government from confiscating property unless it can show "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the property is substantially connected to the crime. This is a much higher standard of proof than "probable cause."
Property owners no longer have to post a bond in order to challenge a civil forfeiture, and they have more time to file the challenge. If a property owner successfully challenges the seizure in court, the government has to pay legal fees. And if the confiscation causes substantial hardship to the owner, the government just may release the property.
Supplemental link providing legal opinion Steven L. Kessler. And go here for a PDF file published by the US Government Printing Office.
From REUTERS
U.S. judges admit to jailing children for money
Whores on the bench, two judges pleaded guilty on Thursday to accepting more than $2.6 million from a private youth detention center in Pennsylvania in return for giving hundreds of youths and teenagers long sentences.
Judges Mark Ciavarella [the guy on the left ] and Michael Conahan [the guy on the right ] of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, entered plea agreements in federal court in Scranton admitting that they took payoffs from PA Childcare and a sister company, Western PA Childcare, between 2003 and 2006.
What egregious wrongs did the kids commit?
Check here for more details from a local perspective ...and see the official website of Western PA Child Care, the facility that provided the kickbacks.
IMAGE SOURCES 1- Generic Cut Book Image; 2- Sonoma county Lawyer Blog; 3- Wandervogel Diary
7 Rules for Recording Police
The law in 38 states plainly allows citizens to record police, as long as you don’t physically interfere with their work. Police might still unfairly harass you, detain you, or confiscate your camera. They might even arrest you for some catchall misdemeanor such as obstruction of justice or disorderly conduct. But you will not be charged for illegally recording police.
Rule #1: Know the Law (Wherever You Are); Rule #2: Don’t Secretly Record Police; Rule #3: Respond to “Things Cops Say”; Rule #4: Don’t Share Your Video with Police; Rule #5: Prepare to be Arrested; Rule #6: Master Your Technology; Rule #7: Don’t Point Your Camera Like a Gun.
Read the rest of the DETAILS and be forearmed.
From FINDLAW
Can the government seize my property without paying me?
After a seven-year legislative battle over civil forfeitures, Congress amended that law. Since May 2000, the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act prohibits the government from confiscating property unless it can show "by a preponderance of the evidence" that the property is substantially connected to the crime. This is a much higher standard of proof than "probable cause."
Property owners no longer have to post a bond in order to challenge a civil forfeiture, and they have more time to file the challenge. If a property owner successfully challenges the seizure in court, the government has to pay legal fees. And if the confiscation causes substantial hardship to the owner, the government just may release the property.
Supplemental link providing legal opinion Steven L. Kessler. And go here for a PDF file published by the US Government Printing Office.
From REUTERS
U.S. judges admit to jailing children for money
Judges Mark Ciavarella [the guy on the left ] and Michael Conahan [the guy on the right ] of the Court of Common Pleas in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, entered plea agreements in federal court in Scranton admitting that they took payoffs from PA Childcare and a sister company, Western PA Childcare, between 2003 and 2006.
What egregious wrongs did the kids commit?
• One 10-year-old child was sent to lock-up for 2½ weeks for accidentally setting trash on fire while playing with a lighter.Ciavarella, presided over juvenile court and stocked the private jail with young offenders whose crimes were often minor. Many of the kids had never been in trouble before, and some were locked up even after probation officers recommended against it.
• A 13-year-old boy was detained for almost two months for throwing a piece of steak at his mother’s boyfriend at a meal.
• Another 13-year-old boy went to jail for three months for pushing his mother during an argument about homework.
• A 15-year-old girl was sent to a detention center for making a MySpace page where she talked about her school principal.
Check here for more details from a local perspective ...and see the official website of Western PA Child Care, the facility that provided the kickbacks.
IMAGE SOURCES 1- Generic Cut Book Image; 2- Sonoma county Lawyer Blog; 3- Wandervogel Diary
spring cleaning
The wood piles from December 2011
are gone; remaining firewood relegated to back lot areas so we can once again enjoy the yard.
Space ~ Planetary conjunctions
So far, 2012 has brought us a plethora of planetary conjunctions, with Venus pairing with the Moon, Jupiter and the Pleiades. Not all at the same time, of course, but photographer Patrick Cullis has put them all together in this wonderful timelapse mashup video, which includes the beautiful foreground of the Flatirons of Boulder, CO. “Jupiter and Venus dominated the early days of March, coming within 3 degrees of one another,” writes Patrick. “Then, Venus passed a crescent moon on its way to a meeting with the Seven Sisters, also known as the Pleiades.”
And we’re all waiting for this year’s big conjunction on June 5 or 6, 2012, depending on your location, then the tiny disk of Venus will glide across the face of the Sun. That won’t happen again until 2117.
And we’re all waiting for this year’s big conjunction on June 5 or 6, 2012, depending on your location, then the tiny disk of Venus will glide across the face of the Sun. That won’t happen again until 2117.
05 April 2012
04 April 2012
02 March 2012
nature sounds software
Found at The Sound Waves of Nature
Nature sounds can be separated in two main groups: first one includes the sounds produced by animals, while the second consists of sounds produced by natural phenomena such as weather and meteorological occurrences.
During the history, sounds of nature, especially animal sounds, have been objects of imitation of tribal people (and even of devotion when they have been related to their belief systems). Even today imitation of nature sounds is used in many shamanic rituals and healing techniques.
Apart from that, sounds of nature have many positive effects on humans. Being in nature, surrounded by pure acoustics of the environment, gives a feeling of overwhelming calm that is hard to experience in urban surroundings.
During the history, sounds of nature, especially animal sounds, have been objects of imitation of tribal people (and even of devotion when they have been related to their belief systems). Even today imitation of nature sounds is used in many shamanic rituals and healing techniques.
Apart from that, sounds of nature have many positive effects on humans. Being in nature, surrounded by pure acoustics of the environment, gives a feeling of overwhelming calm that is hard to experience in urban surroundings.
28 February 2012
27 February 2012
pursuing energy alternatives
Two links I've come across recently offer interesting options for production of energy from sources other than coal, oil or nuclear. The first one, solar shingles and more affordable storage batteries, I find appealing because they have the potential for direct home applications; rather than being something some huge power company has to use, then inefficiently distribute through power grid lines. [more about them some other time perhaps]
One exciting breakthrough are socal shingles that are cheaper and easier to install. Dow Chemical Company's Powerhouse Solar Shingles™ nail in like conventional shingles and interconnect electrically through rigid plugs at the end of each shingle.
In addition to less costly shingles there has been recent progress in developing storage batteries, including one that will cost less to manufacture than lithium ion batteries.
Author Kevin Bullis, at MIT's Technology Review notes that:
Promising starts; can't wait to see how they materialize on the market.
Gasoline from algae grown at sewer treatment plants. The first step is harvesting wild algae from municipal waste water ponds, then producing biofuels from the harvested algae.
Aquaflow Bionomics, a firm who has been developing this process calls the resulting mixture Green Crude™ as it has many similarities to crude oil recovered from traditional geological oil deposits in the earth’s crust. While black crude is the result of applying heat and pressure to biomass on a geological time frame (millions of years). Green Crude™ is the result of applying heat and pressure to algal biomass over the space of a few hours.
Aquaflow is not the only company engaged in this effort. Discover's Treehugges / Renewable Energy website reports that at least two other outfits, Sapphire Energy [with operations based in San Diego, CA and New Mexico] and Byogy Renewables, Inc.,, based in San Jose, CA, are working at converting bio-waste as well as feedstock refuse, into fuels such as gasoline.
The main advantage of making a plant-based synthetic gasoline, rather than other biofuels such as ethanol or biodiesel, is that it can be used in the existing fuel distribution stream and it current vehicles without modification.
Science writer Matt McDermott, who is also editor of Treehugger's Business and Technology sections, notes that Green Crude is a start, but not a whole solution. There are other factors to take into account
Gives me some cautious hope that Winston Churchill may have been correct when he pegged people as getting things right eventually, even if they have to try out all the wrong ways first.
IMAGE CREDITS: 1- Solar Shingles: Dow Chemical photo, reprinted at MIT's Technology Review; 2- Sewage treatment plant in New Zealand operated by Aquaflow Bionomics: Aquaflow Bionomics Corp. photo, reprinted at Discovery's Treehugger / Renewable Energy website.
In addition to less costly shingles there has been recent progress in developing storage batteries, including one that will cost less to manufacture than lithium ion batteries.
Author Kevin Bullis, at MIT's Technology Review notes that:
"A startup called Primus Power has received venture capital funds to build the first full-scale version of a new, low-cost flow battery. The company's battery is designed to help stabilize the power grid, making electricity cheaper, and making it easier for utilities to integrate intermittent renewable power sources like wind and solar.And a new battery developed by Aquion Energy in Pittsburgh uses simple chemistry—a water-based electrolyte and abundant materials such as sodium and manganese—and is expected to cost $300 for a kilowatt-hour of storage capacity, less than a third of what it would cost to use lithium-ion batteries. Third-party tests have shown that Aquion's battery can last for over 5,000 charge-discharge cycles and has an efficiency of over 85 percent.
Primus Power is working to overcome one of the basic problems that have plagued flow batteries. The technology, in theory, at least, could be one of the cheapest forms of grid storage, since it requires inexpensive and abundant materials. But in practice, flow batteries are very expensive, because they're very large. Primus is working on a new design that can be mass-produced in factories".
Promising starts; can't wait to see how they materialize on the market.
Aquaflow Bionomics, a firm who has been developing this process calls the resulting mixture Green Crude™ as it has many similarities to crude oil recovered from traditional geological oil deposits in the earth’s crust. While black crude is the result of applying heat and pressure to biomass on a geological time frame (millions of years). Green Crude™ is the result of applying heat and pressure to algal biomass over the space of a few hours.
Aquaflow is not the only company engaged in this effort. Discover's Treehugges / Renewable Energy website reports that at least two other outfits, Sapphire Energy [with operations based in San Diego, CA and New Mexico] and Byogy Renewables, Inc.,, based in San Jose, CA, are working at converting bio-waste as well as feedstock refuse, into fuels such as gasoline.
The main advantage of making a plant-based synthetic gasoline, rather than other biofuels such as ethanol or biodiesel, is that it can be used in the existing fuel distribution stream and it current vehicles without modification.
Science writer Matt McDermott, who is also editor of Treehugger's Business and Technology sections, notes that Green Crude is a start, but not a whole solution. There are other factors to take into account
"1- Switching to cleaner energy does nothing directly to address over consumption of natural resources, biodiversity loss & habitat destruction, the gross land-use disaster that is suburban sprawl, and soil degradation resulting from destructive agricultural practices... ~ ...nor will it address the 10,000 pound elephant in the environmental room: Unchecked population growth; andIncidentally, the articles these materials are sourced from go back as far as 2008; so while these changes still may not seem evident; change is on the way. I also checked out each of the firms cited as developing these technologies (especially the batteries and the algal biofuel conversion efforts) and am heartened to find they are still in operations.
2- let's not lose sight of the bigger environmental picture. It's a step in the right direction, but alone 'green crude' is not enough. Greater changes are required to make a post-carbon future a reality."
Gives me some cautious hope that Winston Churchill may have been correct when he pegged people as getting things right eventually, even if they have to try out all the wrong ways first.
IMAGE CREDITS: 1- Solar Shingles: Dow Chemical photo, reprinted at MIT's Technology Review; 2- Sewage treatment plant in New Zealand operated by Aquaflow Bionomics: Aquaflow Bionomics Corp. photo, reprinted at Discovery's Treehugger / Renewable Energy website.
26 February 2012
two naturalists
Jim grew up on a small tobacco farm in western Kentucky, in the southeastern USA. After college he served as a naturalist in a Kentucky state park, then for three years worked at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis. While there he collected plants for taxonomic research in several Latin American countries. He currently lives in the Yucatan peninsula in a hut, and in keeping with indigenous housing traditions.
A soft-spoken naturalist, he nevertheless lives in the tradition of Edward Abbey [more about him down the column]. He has a keep sense of what's important and sometimes shares his opinions at Thoughts about Nature
American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views. His best-known works include the novel The Monkey Wrench Gang, which has been cited as an inspiration by radical environmental groups, and the non-fiction work Desert Solitaire.
Desert Solitaire is regarded as one of the finest nature narratives in American literature, and has been compared to Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac and Thoreau's Walden.
poetry ~ herbed flour
At Grandma’s
Herbed flour on the stove.
Nostalgia’s memories grow dim
She used to fuss about us kids when
we came over
You’d think she had none of her own
Oh, but then, they’d already grown and moved away
Since I could remember,
she had bursitis
varicose veins
and that herbed flour on the stove smell
in the house
and she was all Ours
Happy Day
Herbed flour on the stove
I gave her her name by mis-stating
The name of an observation
when I was three
Happy Day
She collected salt and pepper shaker sets
Whole china cabinets would fill with them
Money, she’d hide through the house as well
I remember father telling of how much
They’d found – years later – after granddad died
When they too the place apart
It kept the herbed flour smell around.
But those last months were the hardest
Kept to a bed with tubes and tumor.
For awhile she ate what she pleased;
Lasagna, spaghetti, stuffed duck…
Herbed flour from the stove.
Until too late … and she was gone
No more flour on the stove.
Thoughts to a young man writing about the mental illness industry
I've been active with human rights advocacy for about three decades, the focus issues of important to people with psychiatric diagnoses and physical disabilities.
Two different yet overlying "camps" of people, as it were.
It is clear that at some point we friended one another on FB; looking at what you have been writing - and of the breadth of issues touched upon, I am glad we did.
Currently I work as an advocate "within" one part of the huge dysfunctional system that is mental health services in the USA. I harbor no illusions about "fixing" that system from within, yet also recognize that without dedicated folks working in it, then those without voice who are in it, are at even greater risk for being further victimized by abusers - be they power-hungry shrinks or family members distraught that they cannot control their unruly kinfolk.
Advocating within a system - as I see it - basically follows two different (though overlapping) paths:
1- Advocacy: that is, speaking up for the improvement of living conditions; making incremental changes in how everything from treatment team planning is conducted (including making sure the client/patient/inmate's voice is not only heard but heeded); to speaking out for the reduction and eventual elimination of seclusion and restraints (including chemical restraints) as well as being a watchful eye and ear close-up-and-personal of the staff; and providing empathy, compassion and offering options to those most in need - i.e. the folks caught up in the system as clients (whether inpatient or out).
2- Abuse and Grievance investigations: Here, working inside the system is necessary, for the investigator has to have access to records (both patient as well as employee performance), policies, incident reports and given the authority to hand down decisions and rulings (don't use this term w/the treatment folks or employee unions - they'll have a bird !) well, findings and recommendations, then. on how to implement corrective measures to ensure abuse is discontinued, employees disciplined (or fired, depending on the seriousness of the findings) and to watchdog the time line for corrective measures to be put into action.
And another thread: "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" and "competency" issues: I'm impressed! Few people in the psyche survivor "movement" (as it were) ever seem to touch upon these matters. BOTH are crucial and warrant a much closer review of how these concepts impinge on civil liberties as well as feed into the media and pro-forced treatment zealots intentional deceptions about "The Mentally Ill" (picture that last quote as bold faced, italicized and underlined). The "not competent" legal status is - and always has been - a clear violation of a person's right to a speedy trial. The NGRI issue is a HUGE whale of injustice against people who have committed crimes while in states of extreme distress. NGRI "acquitees" - across the nation - spend 2 to 3 times longer incarcerated (often in "hospitals") than they would have for their crimes if they plead guilty. NGRI is also a convenient vehicle (as you have noted) for folks who - quite in touch with their motives and purposes - attempt to use the NGRI designation to not be held accountable for their actions - often heinous and inhumane - crimes
I could go on, which would be unfair; since I am writing you unsolicited with my opinions.
So I shall tarry no longer, and step down from the soapbox.
It is clear that at some point we friended one another on FB; looking at what you have been writing - and of the breadth of issues touched upon, I am glad we did.
Currently I work as an advocate "within" one part of the huge dysfunctional system that is mental health services in the USA. I harbor no illusions about "fixing" that system from within, yet also recognize that without dedicated folks working in it, then those without voice who are in it, are at even greater risk for being further victimized by abusers - be they power-hungry shrinks or family members distraught that they cannot control their unruly kinfolk.
Advocating within a system - as I see it - basically follows two different (though overlapping) paths:
1- Advocacy: that is, speaking up for the improvement of living conditions; making incremental changes in how everything from treatment team planning is conducted (including making sure the client/patient/inmate's voice is not only heard but heeded); to speaking out for the reduction and eventual elimination of seclusion and restraints (including chemical restraints) as well as being a watchful eye and ear close-up-and-personal of the staff; and providing empathy, compassion and offering options to those most in need - i.e. the folks caught up in the system as clients (whether inpatient or out).
2- Abuse and Grievance investigations: Here, working inside the system is necessary, for the investigator has to have access to records (both patient as well as employee performance), policies, incident reports and given the authority to hand down decisions and rulings (don't use this term w/the treatment folks or employee unions - they'll have a bird !) well, findings and recommendations, then. on how to implement corrective measures to ensure abuse is discontinued, employees disciplined (or fired, depending on the seriousness of the findings) and to watchdog the time line for corrective measures to be put into action.
And another thread: "Not Guilty by Reason of Insanity" and "competency" issues: I'm impressed! Few people in the psyche survivor "movement" (as it were) ever seem to touch upon these matters. BOTH are crucial and warrant a much closer review of how these concepts impinge on civil liberties as well as feed into the media and pro-forced treatment zealots intentional deceptions about "The Mentally Ill" (picture that last quote as bold faced, italicized and underlined). The "not competent" legal status is - and always has been - a clear violation of a person's right to a speedy trial. The NGRI issue is a HUGE whale of injustice against people who have committed crimes while in states of extreme distress. NGRI "acquitees" - across the nation - spend 2 to 3 times longer incarcerated (often in "hospitals") than they would have for their crimes if they plead guilty. NGRI is also a convenient vehicle (as you have noted) for folks who - quite in touch with their motives and purposes - attempt to use the NGRI designation to not be held accountable for their actions - often heinous and inhumane - crimes
I could go on, which would be unfair; since I am writing you unsolicited with my opinions.
So I shall tarry no longer, and step down from the soapbox.
22 February 2012
four photographers
In an interview in Art/Act magazine [text in Romanian] Gordan notes the difference ~ and challenges ~ between working in film from digital. Among them is that with film, you have to wait to see the image, and that changes one's interpretation, and even how one accepts what images to use.
A collaboration between O'Brien [photos] and balladeer Tom Waits [poems] Hard Ground, presents to us the very human face of homeless peoples, has been published in book form and is available through various booksellers.
All images above are © of each individual artist. Permission should be sought from the artists themselves if interested in purchase or commercial use.
coming out in the military
Told to me by a friend
When I was in the service a guy fell in love with me
or at least lust
We were racquet ball partners; newly formed friends
One day while in the showers he abruptly walked out, left the gym and disappeared
I went back to my dorm room and went to sleep
Later that night he burst into my room , drunk, saying how he loved me ~ crying actually
I tried to reason with him but he was pretty hysterical.
we went to the beach to talk since it was very dangerous to speak of such things in the dorm
I told him I wasn't gay and there was no chance
He wanted to die
On the way to the beach he tried to run in front of a passing train
I tackled him on the gravel next to the tracks
we then walked to the beach (I was pretty pissed at him actually for all of the theatrics, but sad for him at the same time)
When we got to the beach he wouldn't stop so I hit him a few times, not hard at all, but I needed him to know it wasn't going to work
He cried more
I felt terrible...
...but I left
I saw him a few times later, but we never talked
(btw my strikes did not leave any marks)
Q: Do you know what happened to him?
No
He was a nice guy
I understand now the time of his life and what he was going through
I think his father was military and put pressure on him to join, IIRC
Also note that at that time in the military the AFOSI was hot on investigating gays
it was very dangerous to be caught with anyone suspected of being gay. FWIW, this was in the fall of '83
My drinking buddies for a time were my squadron commander, a female lieutenant who "looked" dykish but was really into men, and a girl we called "Miami" ~ who was gay ~ and was being actively investigated by the AFOSI
I remember he spoke of being embarrassed about getting a partial erection while we were in the showers (I never noticed, but had he stayed I might have)
My main motivation for hitting him was tough love in that it really bothered me but I (and he) couldn't afford all of the noise and drama he was producing at the time
I cared, but in that setting there was nothing else to do
To be clear ~ when I say it bothered me, i mean it bothered me to hit him
When I was in the service a guy fell in love with me
or at least lust
We were racquet ball partners; newly formed friends
One day while in the showers he abruptly walked out, left the gym and disappeared
I went back to my dorm room and went to sleep
Later that night he burst into my room , drunk, saying how he loved me ~ crying actually
I tried to reason with him but he was pretty hysterical.
we went to the beach to talk since it was very dangerous to speak of such things in the dorm
I told him I wasn't gay and there was no chance
He wanted to die
On the way to the beach he tried to run in front of a passing train
I tackled him on the gravel next to the tracks
we then walked to the beach (I was pretty pissed at him actually for all of the theatrics, but sad for him at the same time)
When we got to the beach he wouldn't stop so I hit him a few times, not hard at all, but I needed him to know it wasn't going to work
He cried more
I felt terrible...
...but I left
I saw him a few times later, but we never talked
(btw my strikes did not leave any marks)
Q: Do you know what happened to him?
He was a nice guy
I understand now the time of his life and what he was going through
I think his father was military and put pressure on him to join, IIRC
Also note that at that time in the military the AFOSI was hot on investigating gays
it was very dangerous to be caught with anyone suspected of being gay. FWIW, this was in the fall of '83
My drinking buddies for a time were my squadron commander, a female lieutenant who "looked" dykish but was really into men, and a girl we called "Miami" ~ who was gay ~ and was being actively investigated by the AFOSI
I remember he spoke of being embarrassed about getting a partial erection while we were in the showers (I never noticed, but had he stayed I might have)
My main motivation for hitting him was tough love in that it really bothered me but I (and he) couldn't afford all of the noise and drama he was producing at the time
I cared, but in that setting there was nothing else to do
To be clear ~ when I say it bothered me, i mean it bothered me to hit him
Video ~ undertow, by Ria Krause
Undertow from Ria Krause on Vimeo.
websites of interest
Her site has won recognition, as she opines about politics, health care, the environment and how powerful extremist neo-cons in the USA and elsewhere subvert the principles of democracy.
Although it has been a very long time since I lived up by the fluid border that is the boundary between Canada and the USA, I make no secret (while at the same time not much talking about it) that I find myself more culturally Canadian than American.
She also writes about Victoriana, Women in Canada and dolls. I'm proud to post a link to her informative site.
Mental Floss:
This archival edition focuses on four mental/medical experiments gone awry. Three are no doubt clear examples of torture; two of the three are conducted on other mammals than human beings (dolphins and fighting bulls). One is self-inflicted.
The human "study", conducted by social psychologist Milton Rokeach wanted to test the strength of self-delusion. So, he gathered three patients, all of whom identified themselves as Jesus Christ, and made them live together in the same mental hospital in Michigan for two years. He wrote a book about it, The Three Christs of Ypsilanti [later made into a film]. Twenty years later, Rokeach renounced his methods, writing, “I really had no right, even in the name of science, to play God and interfere around the clock with their daily lives.”
The "self-inflicted" experiment is the tale of a man, Michel Siffre, a 23-year-old French geologist, who chose to sequester himself in an ice cave, conducting an experiment on himself. For two months in 1962, Siffre lived in total isolation, buried 375 feet inside a subterranean glacier in the French-Italian Maritime Alps, with no clocks or daylight to mark time.
Siffre later re-conducted this experiment in 1972, and again, in the year 2000, when he was 62 years of age.
Science Codex:
Senior author Kenneth S. Kosik, co-director and Harriman Chair in Neuroscience Research, at UCSB's Neuroscience Research Institute. Kosik is a leading researcher in the area of Alzheimer's disease.
"One of the most important processes is that the synapses –– which cement those memories into place –– have to be strengthened," said Kosik. "In strengthening a synapse you build a connection, and certain synapses are encoding a memory.
"Those synapses have to be strengthened so that memory is in place and stays there. Strengthening synapses is a very important part of learning. What we have found appears to be one part of how that happens."
IMAGE CREDITS: 1- Ninjamatics' Canadian Web Awards; 2- Self-phofo of Michael Siffre, from Cabinet Magazine; 3- Sourav Banerjee, posted on Science Codex
21 February 2012
favorite musicians ~ haslinger
From Wikipedia: Paul Haslinger was born in Linz, Upper Austria, Austria. After studying classical music in Vienna, Austria, Haslinger joined the German electronic music group, Tangerine Dream in 1986. During the following 5 years he recorded a total of 15 albums with the group, participated in 4 international tours and collaborated on a number of soundtracks, including Miracle Mile, Near Dark, and Shy People. The soundtrack album for the Miramar film release Canyon Dreams by director Jan Nickman, earned Haslinger his first Grammy nomination in 1991. Read more here
And for something more recent, Be-Bop in Baghdad:
And for something more recent, Be-Bop in Baghdad:
poetry ~ Companion
How intimate the lesser bodies of the universe
Our thoughts lie close
well-nigh a billion miles away.
United only by the dim reflections presented
wavelength-aeons apart;
Friends by telescope.
Knowing only, as we do, the simple names of elements
How is it
we pretend
we know more than this?
I, voyeur, window-peek by microscope
measuring memories in angstroms
trying to place affection on a grid
A quantitative affair.
Plucking compassion from a shelf of chemicals
Apply it with sterility
Earthen values shant sully
Cerebral sensuality.
To you, those million light years away
How can I convey this:
I want nothing but your kind approval.
Our thoughts lie close
well-nigh a billion miles away.
United only by the dim reflections presented
wavelength-aeons apart;
Friends by telescope.
Knowing only, as we do, the simple names of elements
How is it
we pretend
we know more than this?
I, voyeur, window-peek by microscope
measuring memories in angstroms
trying to place affection on a grid
A quantitative affair.
Plucking compassion from a shelf of chemicals
Apply it with sterility
Earthen values shant sully
Cerebral sensuality.
To you, those million light years away
How can I convey this:
I want nothing but your kind approval.
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