December 24, 2008

on earth

Live in rooms full of light.
-- Aulus Cornelius Celsus (ca. 25 BC—ca. 50)





December 19, 2008

storm

Knowing yourself as That
In which the worlds rise and fall
Like waves in the ocean,
Why do you run about so wretchedly?


~ Ashtavakra Gita 3:3

From "The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita," by Thomas Byrom


December 16, 2008

an "enterprising" idea

Paying down the deficit with whizzing shoes
By Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, December 15, 2008

A Saudi reportedly has offered $10 million for just one of the shoes thrown at President Bush in Iraq. That got me thinking. The journalist who threw the shoes no longer possesses them, of course, but hopefully some member of the White House staff picked them up and will do a deal with the Saudi buyer. The second one could be put on Ebay to defray the White House travel costs.

But that got me thinking. The Times article about the Saudi offer says that the shoe-thrower is a hero around Iraq, and indeed in much of the Arab world. That suggests that the resale market for shoes thrown at Mr. Bush is fairly deep. And in this difficult economic environment, can we as a nation overlook any way of raising money?

Couldn’t we trot out Mr. Bush before a series of, er, unfriendly audiences, with a White house aide then designated to collect the shoes and auction them off? (To protect Mr. Bush, we could insist that attendees wear only slippers, but in any case he seems to have excellent reflexes and is a pretty good sport.) My own research suggests that a three-week presidential tour of the Islamic world, Latin America and Western Europe would generate a considerable number of flying shoes. Even if there are diminishing returns and we can sell them for an average of only $3 million each, that could bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the Treasury. If a Saudi will pay $10 million for a single shoe that missed the president, consider the income-earning potential of a pair of slippers that actually grazed a presidential ear, perhaps autographed by him as well? Given that a lame-duck president doesn’t have much else to do, Mr. Bush might as well spend his final weeks raising money to pay for a fiscal stimulus, and the United States might capitalize on his global unpopularity.

December 3, 2008

312 million years

Ancient insect imprint found in Massachusetts
By Gene Emery, Reuters, December 3, 2008

U.S. researchers say they have discovered what appears to be the oldest imprint of a prehistoric insect, made while the dragonfly-like creature was still alive.

The imprint found at a rocky outcrop near a large shopping center in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, is believed to have been made by an insect about three inches long as it stood on mud some 312 million years ago.

"It's not a dragonfly but picture a dragonfly-like body. We're looking at something related, maybe a mayfly. They have the same body plan," said the discoverer, Richard Knecht, a geology student at Tufts University in Massachusetts.

The fossilized remains of a wing that may have belonged to the same species were uncovered two weeks ago. . . .

~ Full story here